My thanks to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic Atlantic Monthly Press for an advance copy of this book that is both travel memoir and a tracing of a path through Africa of a group of animals and men with plans to tame a "savage wilderness" during the late nineteenth century.

In high school we learned a bit of history. Every year we seemed to start at the same time, and end about World War II. We learned a lot of facts, but not much more. Even those facts were questionable, more on the wooden teeth of Washington that on his slave holdings. Of Africa we learned very little, only as it tied into slave trade in America. If we did, again it was just facts to pass a test, nothing of importance. Even with this I was always drawn to history, and once I started reading books, I found that history is more than facts. History is geography, philosophy, mindsets, religion, and even biases, from writer, from reader and from the times. History also is nature. How nature is effected by history, how nature recovers from history, and how nature gets dragged into history. Some stories are funny, camels in the American southwest. Emu wars in Australia. Some are dark, dogs, cats and horses in war. Some are sad, like this book about Africa, hubris, colonialism, men getting in way over their heads, and elephants. A Training School for Elephants:Retracing a Curious Episode in the European Grab for Africa by Sophy Roberts is a look at the attempt to use elephants as wondrous tools of colonialism, as well as a memoir of Roberts trying to come to grips with the story.

In the year of 1879,King Leopold of Belgium had a problem. The King had claimed a vast expanse of the continent of Africa for his own use, but had not thought about the problems that were very present. The disease, the lack of roads and infrastructure, and the lack of experienced people to help him. The idea was raised of using elephants as heavy equipment. Using elephants trained in India, these elephants could be transported to Africa and walk to what would become a school, using captured African elephants as students to move obstructions, carry great weights and more. An Irishman with little experience with animals, outside of shooting them, was chosen by the name of Frederick Carter. Four elephants were chosen, and sent by boat to Africa, where they first had to swim to shore, carry more weight than the were used to and sent on their way. As we learn this history, Sophy Roberts herself follows the modern trails with companions, following the route stopping in towns for research and seeing what has changed in almost 150 years. Roberts stops in churches, visits old towns, finds stories of the elephants, and why life is like for many in modern Africa.

A book that was far more than I expected. Roberts fills the stories with not just facts, but human stories. Elephant stories also. Roberts goes into the life these elephants had in India, life that was far different than they were exposed to. Roberts writes about these amazing creatures, their memories, their feelings, the way they grieve, and their treatment. Roberts also meets an interesting cast who share their stories, which gives a real strong feeling to the writing. There was quite a lot I liked. The chapters intermingle with Roberts travels and the travels in the past. However one never gets lost as Roberts is a really gifted writer. There is a lot of great writing here, and a lot of sadness. However this was a book I really enjoyed.

Nature readers will quite enjoy this, as well as people who like history, especially odd history. This is the second book I have read by Roberts, and feel I have some catching up to do. A very interesting tale, and a book that reminds me that the world is filled with a lot of weird stories. Thankfully we have writers like Sophy Roberts to share them with us.

A really excellent albeit sad story about a forgotten era of colonial abuses. Anyone interested in the history of colonialism should read this. I did find it very sad though - could only read it in bits and pieces!

This was interesting, but not what I thought it was. I am sure it is a need for this type of book, but just not with me.

King Leopold of Belgium is rightly infamous for his horrible abuses of people in Congo while extracting rubber from the country which was his own private domain for decades. A lesser known part of the story is Leopoldo’s attempt to create a training program for African elephants by sending four Asian elephants and their trainers to the East Coast of Africa and overland into the Congo. The author follows the elephants journey, both filling in historical details and providing vivid details of the economic and ecological changes in the region.

This was a fascinating concept, it had a period of time that I didn’t know anything about and got to learn about this. Sophy Roberts does a great job in showing the darker elements to this and have an adventure element to it. I really felt for the elephants and thought it was a fantastic story.