Man Eaters Motel

by Denis Boyles and Alan Rose

Book Overview

A modern and amusingly written, ironic account of travelling on the Uganda Railway, with much background and history. including a summary history of Zanzibar and an account of the slaughter at Tsavo.... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• ISBN: B000V6035U
• Release Date: January 1991
• Publisher: Ticknor & Fields
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Great, quirky, entertaining history of Kenya, the Tsavo man-eaters, and more

_Man Eaters Motel_ is a fun, quirky, entertaining book about Kenya, or perhaps more specifically, the railroad that created it. "To appreciate fully Kenya's enormous success," wrote author Denis Boyles, "it must be seen in the odd manner in which it was achieved." Kenya was essentially almost accidentally created. To bridge the "unhappy gap" between the East African coast, particularly the region once controlled by the then mighty and storied Zanzibar, and the lakes of Uganda, a railroad was created. The railroad was originally constructed to help safeguard the route to India and the headwaters of the Nile but had huge unintended consequences. "One thing lead to another" and people started to disembark from the train early, first to farm, then to hunt, and later for tourism, along the way making the final destination of the railway, a sleepy town on the shores of Lake Victoria, "somewhat incidental." Essentially, "Kenya was invented in the space of a lifetime along the tracks of a railway going nowhere." Without the railroad, there would have been little or no development of Kenya and Uganda, and indirectly, Tanganyika. For those looking for a technical history of the railway from Mombassa to Kisumu they will be somewhat disappointed, as the author's admits in his introduction that he used the railway as essentially a plot device to provide a framework for stories from Kenya's past and the author's own observations. This is not to say that railroad is not covered, as Boyles discussed the railway stations, those who built the railway and operate it today, and what it is like to ride the train, noting what might be seen (and not seen) along the railway. One of the things not seen, and something that may surprise tourists, is just about anything marking the famed attacks of the man-eaters of Tsavo. The author searched high and low in the area where the attacks occurred and interviewed a number of people resident in the area but found any memorial or indication of the attacks hard to come by (other than the hotel mentioned in the book's title). Happily, this did not stop the author from telling the tale of how two man-eaters held up the construction of the Uganda railway for nearly a year (in 1898), of the fight against the lions, and the personalities involved in the famed incident, notably of course Colonel John Henry Patterson (who was known for many things, the fight against the man-eaters being only one incident; other things he was noted for include fighting in the Boer War, commanding the Jewish Legion in World War I, and being a keen supporter of the foundation of Israel). The Tsavo man-eaters were easily my favorite part of the book and read like a great adventure story (did you know that twice the workmen of the railway tried to murder Patterson?) but it is not by any means the only thing in this book. Boyles gives the reader a tour of Zanzibar, once a rich and influential island kingdom that ruled over much of the East African coa

Interesting and entertaining

I lived in Africa for many years - Rhodesia, also I've spent time in Zambia, Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa, and Angola - but to my eternal regret I never travelled to Kenya. This author's history of the British-built railway there and how it opened up towns and cities and agriculture and other forms of development there, is very good and very interesting. Many years ago I read Patterson's memoir THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO of his days building parts of the railway and his attempts to stop man-eating lions who were steadily devouring his Indian labour force and many tribal locals too, even dragging off at least one white colonial. It is still available in the modern Capstick library edition and other re-issues. The present author does cite Patterson quite a bit as well as provides many fascinating details which he unearthed to round out the story of the man-eaters quite a bit more. Additionally, he provides much modern information on the tourist industry and conditions on Zanzibar, at Mombassa and Nairobi, and points in between and beyond. Refreshingly, there is little of the all too common colonialism-bashing political correctness found in other works on Africa, and that alone gives this another star. Altogether it is a great book to read and I highly recommend it. I am now going to find and read the author's earlier AFRICAN LIVES.

Great adventure

I am planning a trip to Africa, so I bought this book (used) and "Ghosts of Tsavo" by Phillip Caputo and "Man Eaters," which is Patterson's book (he is the British officer who shot the man eating lions). I liked this one best of the three. It is really exciting in some places and tells the story of the man eating lions in Tsavo better than Paterson does, and he was there! I enjoyed the travel aspect too, where Boyles takes the train ride from Mombassa to Lake Victoria and gives a stop-by-stop account of the journey. This book is also very funny in places. I'm glad I took the trouble to get this book. I recommend it completely.

Better than being there

I read Boyles's other African book (African Lives) and loved it. When we decided to visit Kenya this year on vacation, I started looking for this book, which I had found discussed in some newsgroups, but it was "out of stock" (whatever that means!). My local public library did a search for it, but couldn't locate the book before we left. When we got home, it was there and I read it. I can't tell you how much I wish I'd had this book before I went. Not only is the writing wonderful, but since the book follows the railroad (telling the story and describing the places along the way) from the coast to Lake Victoria, the details are exactly the kind of things a visitor really needs. Our vacation was expensive and tame, even though we enjoyed the people and the scenery. This book was better than the trip, since it was free (from the library) and very exciting (funny, too). The best things in it are hard to pick out, but I recommend the story of Patterson and the man-eaters (better than the hokie movie, by far), the depiction of Zanzibar, the social scene in Nairobi and the description of Lake Victoria. If we had known about the little winery in Naivasha, we would have gone there. This book is full of things I wish I'd known, but didn't. Find this book if you can.