- Paperback: 224 pages
- Publisher: Headline Review; New edition edition (5 Aug 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0747262098
- ISBN-13: 978-0747262091
- Product Dimensions: 20.8 x 12.4 x 1.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 222,154 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Michael Allin's Zarafa is a delightful piece of popular cultural history, which draws on the current fascination with exotic animals and their even more exotic owners, seen most recently in Lawrence Norfolk's novel The Pope's Rhinoceros .
Zarafa recounts the history of a Masai giraffe captured in the Sudan in 1826 and shipped to France for presentation to the French king, Charles X. The giraffe was initially intended as a diplomatic gift offered to Charles by Muhammad Ali, the despotic Viceroy of Egypt, in an attempt to curry favour with the French as Muhammad set about his invasion of Greece. But in the midst of this potentially unremarkable event, Allin uncovers a weird and wonderful story of the tangled, momentous events which surrounded the giraffe's extraordinary journey: Napoleon's invasion of Egypt and the beginnings of Egyptology; the giraffe's dramatic journey along the route of the North African slave trade; quarantine off Marseilles on the island of If, the former residence of the Count of Monte Cristo; and the giraffe's enchanting encounter with the scientific community of post-Revolutionary France. These remarkable events culminated in the giraffe's triumphant entry into Paris in 1827 in front of crowds of thousands following a walk of 550 miles from Marseilles to Paris, led by none other than Etienne Geoffrey Saint-Hilaire, the founding professor of the National Museum of Natural History.
Allin's stories are indeed remarkable, though he often seems bewitched by the richness of his own material. At times, the book seems as though it cannot make up its mind as to whether it is a travel narrative, an account of Zarafa, or the 19th century's fascination with exotic animals. This is partly due to a loss of pace in crucial moments of the book; Allin's account is so breathless by the time the giraffe reaches Paris that the final sections of the book seem rather anticlimactic. Nevertheless, this is a great story with a remarkable cast of characters--both human and animal. --Jerry Brotton
Product Description
This is the story of Zarafa, the Masai giraffe presented to Charles X of France in 1826, and how she captivated and inspired all those who came to see her. Allin describes the giraffe-inspired fashions of the day in this period of post-Revolutionary France.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Zarafa was to be the first giraffe that many, many people were ever to encounter, some 30,000 at one town! This description brings alive details of the bizarre journey that brought this animal to Paris. A good account of 19th Century history and politics of France is combined with a beautiful tale of Zarafa, essentially a political tool, and her entourage as they cross both land and sea to her final destination, le Jardin du Roi. Sometimes sad, sometimes amusing, always with a certain poignancy and elegance, this is an unusual tale that has been well researched and presented, with some attractive and interesting plates and pictures.
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