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Rating: 
Summary: Good. Not Great, But Good
Review: Brian Herne has done a an admirable job analyzing the excitement of big game hunting and the contributions white hunters and game wardens have made to the preservation of Africa's wildlife and their natural habitat. I was also very impressed by his vivid, accurate and responsible depiction of the horrors of the Mau Mau uprising, a phenomenon that has been more or less whitewashed in recent years by politically correct pantywaists -- e.g., Edgerton.I must say, however, that Mr. Herne's description of the hunt is not as lively as others I've read. Ruark comes to mind, as does Capstick (whom Mr. Herne neglects to mention). To be sure, Capstick can come across as a bit of a clown on occasion, but he's an adrenaline-pumping writer. I wonder why Mr. Herne failed to mention him (and others -- e.g., Bull). After all, virtually every white hunter there ever was is discussed in this book, which is arguably a mistake. "White Hunters" is too long and so congested with characters that Mr. Herne loses sight of what should be the ultimate goal of such a book -- to get our adrenaline pumping. I do recommend "White Hunters," but I would have preferred a tighter, more focused and more exciting effort.
Rating: 
Summary: An excellent book for anyone interested in African hunting!
Review: Brian Herne, a true member of the East African Hunting Community, is in the enviable position of being able to bring his readers an accurate, and in many cases a first-hand history of the Golden Age of Safari. If you are interested in African hunting, this book is a must for your library.
Rating:
Summary: Despite negatives, the real deal.
Review: First the negatives: basically, the list of white hunters comes at the reader in a blur of names and brief incidents, so that sometimes the reading takes on a repetitious feel. I found myself a bit overwhelmed at the onslaught of names and personalities, sometimes given no more than a few paragraphs of space. The information is arranged chronologically, beginning with the earliest white hunters like Cornwallis Harris and R.J. Cunninghame, and proceeds at a blistering pace through the 1970's, when Kenya outlawed all safari hunting. Brian Herne, the author, is a good writer, without being particularly inspired. If you are looking for the Peter Capstick (Death in the Long Grass) style of safari writing, you will not find it here. Herne is not the talented storyteller that Capstick is; yet Mr. Herne does have his own particular strengths. His style is very journalistic, in that he relays facts in blunt, swift manner. Take for Instance his concise description of White Hunter, Eric Rundgren's encounter with a charging buffalo: "During one pursuit a wounded buffalo charged, slammed hard in Rundgren, and tossed him over a riverbank. He landed in the gravel stream, but held on to his .450 double rifle. Above him on the bank was the buffalo looking down at him. Lying in the shallow river Rundgren shot the buff in the throat and it collapsed." End of incident. In a Capstick book, this mad charge by a buffalo would have taken a page or two, and by the end of it the reader himself would have felt covered in fear and sweat. Yet, despite the above, I heartily recommend this book for its many strengths: for one, Brian Herne has incredible credentials as a hunter, and one senses in his writing that they are being given the true deal. Maybe not as colorfully expressed as a Capstick, but frankly, more real. Also, there are many nuggets of breathtaking adventure that come jumping at the reader right through the factual prose of Mr. Herne. Nearly every hunter of any note is here, and the reader is given potraits of all the greats: Alan Black, Karamoja Bell, Bror Blizen, Charles Cottar, Bill Judd, and many, many others. Herne certainly can't be faulted for his completeness of the topic. What becomes clear when reading Mr. Herne's book is two facts. First, that big game hunting is an incredibly dangerous profession. It seems that nearly all the hunters were at some point gored or horribly mauled by big game, or suffered malaria, black-water fever, or one of the many diseases that float in the air in Africa. A fair number where killed outright, and these stories make the most gripping in the book, Two, conservation of big game was also an important role of these big game hunters. It was not the white hunters that decimated the rhino and elephant, but rather the various corrupt African governments themselves that allowed, and benefited greatly, from poaching. Herne makes a case for this in statistics that are irrefutable. By eliminating the safari hunters, the only group of individuals that had both the means and incentive to protect the region's wildlife for both personal and financial reasons, the corrupt government officials and poachers were free to roam, now hunting with AK-47 assault rifles and poisons. International prices for rhino horn and Ivory jumped up, as did the death toll for elephant and rhino. In short, this book is a great resource for the true story of white hunters. It includes a fabulous bibliography as well, for further reading.
Rating:
Summary: A great look at East Africas professional white hunters
Review: Herne does a masterful job of encapsulating so much information, excitement and adventure into so small a space. Well researched, well written and well worth adding to a collection of African hunting or general Africana. Herne writes from personal recollection, personal experience and personal connection. The last line of his dissertation on Bill Judd is unforgettable. Sure wish I had a chance to sit around a hunting camp campfire with a sundowner and listen to Herne reminisce. The editorial review by Svenya Soldovieri bleeds through with the reviewers distaste for hunting and lack of understanding of conservation. Makes me wonder why Soldovieri wanted to review the book in the first place.
Rating:
Summary: Exciting & Descriptive...
Review: Herne paints an exciting and descriptive picture the African hunt. Perhaps the characters that populate this era are indeed the most interesting subjects. Whether the stories are read in sequence or individually, Herne's narration will take you to the high plains for a hunt of your own.
Rating:
Summary: Needs a better editor
Review: I have always enjoyed reading about African hunting and looked forward to Hernes book. While it did deliver the information promised, I believe the book could have used a bit better editing. This is for a couple of different reasons. For one, Mr. Here identifies so many different hunters that it gets somewhat confusing keeping track of who did what. As noted by above reviewers, there are plenty of hair-raising anecdotes, and it is a quite thrilling book, but Mr. Herne just briefly touches on a few events of the lives of literally thousands of people that spent time hunting of working for hunters in Africa. It is sort of like a buffet where there are a multitude of courses, but you can only take a bit or two of each course. Secondly, Mr. Herne sometimes changes subjects, persons or topics, without notice. One paragraph you are reading about a particular hunter and another paragraph you read about some political aspects of hunting whose connection to the previous hunter is not always obvious. I think that a good editor, making a smoother transition between subjects, and perhaps eliminating a discussion of some briefly mentioned persons in order to focus a bit more on others who were more influential, could have made this good book even better. Those two criticisms aside, I really enjoyed the book. mr. Herne's recounting of life in pre-WWI east Africa was incredibly intriguing. His analysis of hunting's conservation effects make a powerful argument for the use of hunting as a game-management technique. All in all, I would heartily recommend this book to anyone desiring to learn about either the history of African history or arguments for hunting.
Rating:
Summary: Needs a better editor
Review: I have always enjoyed reading about African hunting and looked forward to Hernes book. While it did deliver the information promised, I believe the book could have used a bit better editing. This is for a couple of different reasons. For one, Mr. Here identifies so many different hunters that it gets somewhat confusing keeping track of who did what. As noted by above reviewers, there are plenty of hair-raising anecdotes, and it is a quite thrilling book, but Mr. Herne just briefly touches on a few events of the lives of literally thousands of people that spent time hunting of working for hunters in Africa. It is sort of like a buffet where there are a multitude of courses, but you can only take a bit or two of each course. Secondly, Mr. Herne sometimes changes subjects, persons or topics, without notice. One paragraph you are reading about a particular hunter and another paragraph you read about some political aspects of hunting whose connection to the previous hunter is not always obvious. I think that a good editor, making a smoother transition between subjects, and perhaps eliminating a discussion of some briefly mentioned persons in order to focus a bit more on others who were more influential, could have made this good book even better. Those two criticisms aside, I really enjoyed the book. mr. Herne's recounting of life in pre-WWI east Africa was incredibly intriguing. His analysis of hunting's conservation effects make a powerful argument for the use of hunting as a game-management technique. All in all, I would heartily recommend this book to anyone desiring to learn about either the history of African history or arguments for hunting.
Rating:
Summary: Good. Not Great, But Good
Review: This book will add to an understanding of the now vanished world of colonial East Africa. For those who are viscerally anti-hunting, this will be a book that will probably not be considered, and that is a pity, because it is about more than hunting -- though there's plenty enough to satisfy fans of Capstick, Hunter, et al. Mr. Herne's homage to a special breed of men (and women), white and black, is well written and ideal for leisurely reading and rereading. It is brimming with anecdotes both amusing and hair-raising. I've given my copy away and am now ordering another. White Hunters is a worthwhile addition to the library of the sportsman or the person interested in colonial Africa, from the late 19th century to independence. Whether relating stories of such early white hunter legends as Selous, Cunninghame and Black, or the role played by white hunters in the oft-mismatched British campaigns against German-led guerilla operations in WWI, or the horrors faced by white settlers during the Mau Mau troubles of the '50s, these tales never bog down. One of my favorite hunters, by the way, was "Shagbag" Collins. On a parallel note, I would recommend, The Life of My Choice by Sir Wilfred Thesiger and Home from the Hill by Hilary Hook, though I'm not sure of the current availability of either of these books.
Rating:
Summary: White Hunters
Review: This book will add to an understanding of the now vanished world of colonial East Africa. For those who are viscerally anti-hunting, this will be a book that will probably not be considered, and that is a pity, because it is about more than hunting -- though there's plenty enough to satisfy fans of Capstick, Hunter, et al. Mr. Herne's homage to a special breed of men (and women), white and black, is well written and ideal for leisurely reading and rereading. It is brimming with anecdotes both amusing and hair-raising. I've given my copy away and am now ordering another. White Hunters is a worthwhile addition to the library of the sportsman or the person interested in colonial Africa, from the late 19th century to independence. Whether relating stories of such early white hunter legends as Selous, Cunninghame and Black, or the role played by white hunters in the oft-mismatched British campaigns against German-led guerilla operations in WWI, or the horrors faced by white settlers during the Mau Mau troubles of the '50s, these tales never bog down. One of my favorite hunters, by the way, was "Shagbag" Collins. On a parallel note, I would recommend, The Life of My Choice by Sir Wilfred Thesiger and Home from the Hill by Hilary Hook, though I'm not sure of the current availability of either of these books.
Rating: 
Summary: It reads like a text book
Review: This is a much too abbreviated list of the hunters and trackers of East Africa and their wonderful lives. If you are expecting the adventure packed prose of Capstick, look to Capstick not here.
I did not find the book difficult to read or understand, but it was more a historical text instead of an interesting adventure.
This book would serve as a good primer for reading other works like Roosevelt's African Game Trails so the reader would understand who the characters were in that book better. Considering the absolute wealth of characters and high drama Mr. Herne had to work with this book comes off rather dry and shallow.
For living the most exciting of lives, Mr. Herne does not seem all that excited about any of the people in it. So regrettably 3 stars.
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