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A Training School for Elephants
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About This Book
Out of a sidelined, colonial-era expedition in Africa comes a new history of cruelty, deception and adventure from the acclaimed author of The Lost Pianos of Siberia In 1879, King Leopold II of Belgium launched an ambitious plan to plunder Africa's resources. The key to cracking open the continent, or so he thought, was its elephants—if only he could train them. And so he commissioned the charismatic Irish adventurer Frederick Carter to ship four tamed Asian elephants from India to the East African coast, where they were marched inland towards Congo. The ultimate aim was to establish a training school for African elephants. Following in the footsteps of the four elephants, Roberts pieces together the story of this long-forgotten expedition, in travels that take her to Belgium, Iraq, India, Tanzania, and Congo. The storytelling brings to life a compelling cast of historic characters and modern voices, from ivory dealers to Catholic nuns, set against rich descriptions of the landscapes travelled. In an original weave of past and present, she digs deep into historic records revealing an extraordinary—and enduring—story of colonial greed, hypocrisy, and folly.
Reviews
"She has the water-diviner's gift for stories in unlikely places."
"Roberts misses the irony of positioning herself as the main character in this effort to remedy historical erasure ..."
"How does private and political life ebb and flow in this country 60-some years after independence?"
"Riveting, sumptuously written ..."
"Fortunately, her writing has a more enduring quality, and her journey along Carter's route is illuminated by sensitive portrayals of the people she meets, her fine ear for dialogue and, perhaps especially, her poignant observations about a denuded environment ..."
"[Roberts] has an eye for the encounter but struggles to connect the parallel worlds of her narrative (past and present, Europe and Africa) ..."
"Any account of a journey in the footsteps of another is bound to be elegiac, but rarely has an elegy been so suffused with drama and pathos."
"This is a beautiful, intelligent and heartfelt book, a brilliantly researched account of an imperial fever dream alongside a no less feverish contemporary journey."
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