Elephant Hunters, Men of Legend

By Tony Sanchez Arino

Tony Sanchez-Ariño  is quite likely the world’s most prominent living elephant hunter, and in this book he delves into the exploits and adventures of the famous elephant hunters of yesteryear: Walter Bell, John Hunter, Mickey Norton, Bill Buckley, Robert Foran, James Sutherland, and so on. He also discusses those obscure elephant hunters who shot as many if not more tuskers but who are not as well known, simply because they never wrote books on their adventures. These intrepid hunters include Aurelio Rossi, Otto Krohnert, Billy Pickering, and Theodore Lefebvre and Etienne Canonne (Frenchmen who hunted in West Africa). The late Harry Manners, also a very famous hunter himself, wrote a chapter on Tony Sanchez’s elephant-hunting escapades—the last piece Manners ever wrote and something that has never before been published.

Parading in and out of the pages of this fascinating book are the most famous and illustrious characters to have been drawn to the mysterious Dark Continent in search of riches. Only a handful left Africa with more money than they came with, quite a few left with a lot less, and some paid the ultimate price. Being an ivory hunter was never easy, and making a living off it was a major feat in itself! However, in terms of sheer adventure and excitement, no other job on earth could ever come close to the ultimate fulfillment of hunting after Africa’s white gold.

Illustrated with dozens and dozens of period photos from long-forgotten archives, Tony’s book puts a human face on these adventurers from a bygone era. It is certainly the most interesting tale ever to emerge on that intrepid and now finished breed of man—those Elephant Hunters, Men of Legend.

Binding and pages: Hardbound with a dustjacket; 236 pages; colour photographs