GORILLAS WERE MY NEIGHBOURS (1956)

Publisher's green hardcover binding with illustrated dust jacket.

xvi + 249pp. Illustrated.

Binding sound. Internally clean. Foxing on the inside of the dust jacket.

'The adventures of Tarzan seem less fantastic when one reads the true story of Fred Merfield's life amongst the gorillas of the West African forests. Merfield has been described as the greatest white hunter in Africa, for he has sought out the most difficult terrain for his activities, and has constantly belied the theory that only Africans have the necessary stealth, skill and endurance for tracking and hunting in their dense tropical forests.

Fred Merfield's chief interest was always the rare and gigantic gorilla of West Africa, and he eventually penetrated the remote, little-known Mendjim country where, by the exercise of courage and persistence, he made friends with the wild natives.

From then on he was to lead a remarkable life, setting up "home" among the Mendjims and the gorillas, with a young wife fresh from a London suburb. For years they maintained this prrimitive existence, acquiring unique knowledge concerning the giant apes and other creatures. The fascinating record of Fred Merfield's adventures and discoveries has been set down in these pages, with the collaboration of Harry Miller. It is a story unsurpassed for excitement in contemporary fiction, and without parallel in its own field.' - editor's note