Beryl Markham moved to Kenya with her father at the age of four and stayed until her death. Her incredible autobiography describes the Africa she learnt to love; her childhood surrounded by the tribal people and her tangles with the wild animals. Markham achieved notoriety and success as a horse trainer, and became the first woman in Kenya to receive a commercial pilot's licence. Her adventures and courageous career as a bush pilot are recounted in vivid detail here.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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A beautiful and evocative story that deserves to be ranked alongside Karen Blixen's OUT OF AFRICA (Time Out )
A poet's feeling for her land, an adventurer's response to life (New York HERALD Tribune ) --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
A poet's feeling for her land, an adventurer's response to life (New York HERALD Tribune ) --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Book Description
* ERNEST HEMINGWAY wrote to a friend: 'She can write rings around all of us . . . I wish you would get it and read it because it is really a bloody wonderful book'
* introduction by MARTHA GELLHORN
--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Audio Cassette
This book is a fanastic journey through colonial Africa by one the first female aviators. It captures the atmosphere of native Africa, at an exciting time in history, when motor cars still turned heads, and the idea of flying was almost ubsurd. It is an insight into the ways of whiteman on the continent and how the flying machine became used as a hunting machine as man sought to conquer the mighty continent.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Beryl Markham's memoir neatly sidesteps the conventional issues of romance and marriage, although she had that, to recount the story of a young woman left very much on her own resources and who achieved considerable success. Beryl made her way into horse training and flying, not as a consciously pioneer feminist woman pushing into conventionally male domains but as a woman trying to make her own livelihood by not accepting there was any reason why she shouldn't do the things she enjoyed and was good at. Her love of Africa and her friendships and knowledge built across cultures are what gave Beryl the capability to forge a life of great variety and interest. The culmination of her achievements was her solo flight across the Atlantic from east to west, which gives the book its title. West With the Night has an appealing informality and honesty. Beryl Markham's name is one of which the world should hear more.
14 of 16 people found the following review helpful
By A. J. Watson
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
...More like poetry than prose, some of her descriptive passages have to be read more than once, just to let the feelings soak into your system.
Ms Markham's early life is told in a matter-of-fact way, which takes it for granted that, when at 17, your father decides to leave Africa for Peru, you jump on your horse and head North, with no food, one change of underwear, little education, but a deep knowledge of horses and expect to land on your feet. Which is exactly what she does, co-incidentally meeting many yet-to-be-famous people on the way.
Ms Markham's early life is told in a matter-of-fact way, which takes it for granted that, when at 17, your father decides to leave Africa for Peru, you jump on your horse and head North, with no food, one change of underwear, little education, but a deep knowledge of horses and expect to land on your feet. Which is exactly what she does, co-incidentally meeting many yet-to-be-famous people on the way.
Hunter; horse-trainer; aeronaut; most people would be happy to excel in any one of these professions, but Beryl does it all with surpassing ease. Her style is self-effacing and matter-of-fact; you would imagine that being 'moderately eaten' by a lion would warrant more than a couple of paragraphs, but it only gets included here, I suspect, on the strength of Bishon Singh's wonderful rhetoric in describing the event. She also has a knack of striking up instant and longlasting relationships with people from every race, creed and social status - I don't believe she even saw those differences; be he a Murani warrior or a colonial Governor, they both get treated to the same open-minded friendship.
A book to read & read again.
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4.7 out of 5 stars
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great service
This book was recommended by my sister. It is quite old so I was not expecting to find it so easily. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Catriona
4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting biography
This biography clearly leaves out much more than it covers, but so Ms Markham clearly says in the first chapter. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Kai-Mikael Jää-Aro
5.0 out of 5 stars
West with the Night
If Ernest Hemingway endorses a book with the words, 'it is really a bloody wonderful book,' then you know you cannot make much of a mistake. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Southpaw
5.0 out of 5 stars
A well written story of an amazing life
This is a fast paced story of a face paced life, set against the background of Kenya's colonial times. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Bellamax2
4.0 out of 5 stars
West with the Night
A thoroughly delightful book to read. High standard of english usage and a truly remarkable story of one woman's life in East Africa. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Jiwi
5.0 out of 5 stars
My favourite book of all time
I cannot recommend this book too highly. I put it into my book club and they all raved about it, and it remains our favourite book in a club that meets monthly and has done for 6... Read more
Published on 12 May 2011 by Merry Baskin
5.0 out of 5 stars
West With the Night
A truly amazing book of African exploration and adventure. Beryl Markham may have skipped passed the scandalous affairs that marked her life but she writes beautifully about her... Read more
Published on 24 Sep 2010 by Ian M. Sheridan
5.0 out of 5 stars
Inspiring
I wanted to read this book because I spent six years in Kenya as a child, which is where Beryl Markham spent most of her life. Read more
Published on 6 Sep 2010 by J. Weeks
4.0 out of 5 stars
A child's view of Africa and a young woman's dream
The book was well written and really brought Africa [Kenya] to life. Her hunting with the natives is most interesting. Read more
Published on 18 Aug 2010 by J. P. Stubbs
5.0 out of 5 stars
West with the Night
Hemingways review says it all. Briefly, it's the most under-rated historical review of life and customs, as well as flying, in Africa over a very formative period. Read more
Published on 20 Jun 2009 by Mr. Timothy N. Ashworth
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