An Affair with Africa: Expeditions And Adventures Across A Continent

By Alzada Carlisle Kistner

A description of the five African trips the author took with her scientist husband and their children in search of rare beetles. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1559635312
• ISBN13: 9781559635318
• Release Date: May 1998
• Publisher: Island Press
• Length: 262 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 1.0" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

A Wonderful Experience of a Naturalist in Africa

This book turned out to be a gold mine for me. I of course downloaded it because it was about an experience in Africa during the 1960s and 1970s and was intruging for me. The author turned out to be much more interesting and I learned about researchers in the field. The author worked with her husband who was a naturalist specializing in insects and traveled on several expedidtions to Africa looking for beatle species who mimic the scent of African ants and termites so that they can live them relatively unscathed. On expeditions to Anglola, the Belgian Congo, South Africa, Guinea and Rhodesia, the author, her husband, and her children traveled with other researchers on trips across the continent. As they research and study insects, the background exposes a changing world where colonial rulers and independence movements make for an uncertain present and past. The author is able to portray the world pretty clearly and apparently accurately. I was captivated by the book and really enjoyed it. I listened to the audiobook and it was excellent. The only thing I lacked were diagrams, photographs and explainations of the scentific research that would have helped me understand them better. Wonderful.

Not a very politically correct book

I agree that the author (somewhat) romanticizes colonialism. However, the family didn't seem to have a lot of contact with black Africans, so she wrote about what she experienced: the privileged lives of the Europeans there. She and her husband seem incredibly politically naive though. That aside, I found it a fascinating book, in spite of the science, which wasn't too daunting, but caused me to mutter "here we go ..." each time it appeared. I'd like to hear more of their adventures in other continents.

One of the best reads about Africa

ALZADA CARLISLE KISTNER...my hat is off to you! You lived a life I could never live and yet through your wonderful book I have experienced the adventure, high drama, stark terror and beauty of Africa.Thank you. You are an inspiration! Talk about a positive attitude! When the going gets tough for me I will think of you and your family. I can't think of anyone who wouldn't enjoy this book. Your humor and practicality made it a book I just couldn't put down.

Great in many ways, great for my African curiosity

I have always been greatly intriqued by Africa, this book made me love it even more, as it was one I picked out to give me wings to travel in my mind without having the means. Spectacular Book!

Captivating true-life adventures in Africa in turmoil.

Many themes run through this book about a remarkable and admirable family of scientists, including scientific ferver, compassion and love, concern and terror for Africa on the cusp of change, fascination for Africa's variety of life, adventure, and protection of the family's well-being. The Kistners' adaptability is amazing. They went through continuous and diverse challenges with aplomb. A matter of hours could find them moving from dirt-groveling scientific search for tiny insects in disease infested and personally threatening environments, to high society, twelve-course dinner parties . They spent unbelievably long hours and days of sustained scientific hard work in rain forests, deserts, and plains. A glimpse into the multitude of challenges required to mount a scientific expedition leaves the reader awe-struck. Mrs. Kistner's adaptablility and resourcefulness is truly inspiring. (It's an exciting tale and now that I've finished reading the book, I can finally get some sleep!) Kudos to the editor, publisher, and printer for a very attractive book, beautiful, readable format and print, CLEAR maps, (which is quite unusual) and pictures, and a comfortable size for carrying about. The presentation is a lovely invitation to read about this "Affair With Africa." Hurry, get this on talking books so that my blind parents can read (hear) it! .