FOOTSTEPS OF AN IVORY HUNTER

2005 Harare, 1st edn, 254pp, photos. Those that have read Months of the Sun know that Ian Nyschens' life is one of the most incredible stories ever recorded in the history of African elephant & ivory hunting. It is fair to say that no man since WW II has a more compelling tale than this author. Since the publication of his first book numerous people who knew Ian have told us that not all of his incredible adventures were written up in Months of the Sun. So Ian took it upon himself to publish this, his second book, in a very limited edition. We will be honest with our readers; the book is a bitter- sweet experience. On the one hand more incredible tales are told, and most is new materials not written up before. On the other hand a lot of it is rather rambling and the book could have stood a good professional editor and graphic artist. But as one PH remarked to us several years ago "Ian Nyschens could write his next book on tree bark and people would buy it" A few of the stories elaborate on sections of Ian's previous book. We learn what happened to Faanie Joosten, Ian's wife, and when he was arrested in Mozambique. For the die-hard Nyschens fan this book will allow further insights into the man and his life. Ian asked some of his PH friends in Zimbabwe to write up a few of their best stories and these are in this book as well. Unfortunately in a few instances it is not clear that they wrote the text till well into the chapter. While his magnum opus Months of the Sun was largely devoted to hunting in Southern Africa, Ian, in this book gives some of his adventures as far North as the Sudan. However this is not much detail in these sections. The book is not a professional production but there are several very worthwhile stories in here that are worth the price of the book. And yes there is also some material in these pages that you will only care to read once in your life unlike Months of the Sun that many people have read once, twice even three times. We were told that this book was printed in a run of 500 copies of which over 100 were faulty, so very few copies are in circulation.…