The story of these animals was told by John Henry Patterson—the British East India Company's overseer on the railway project and …

The story of these animals was told by John Henry Patterson—the British East India Company's overseer on the railway project and the man who ultimately shot the lions—in his 1900 book The Man-eaters of Tsavo. The gruesome history attracted the attention of Hollywood producers, resulting in two feature films, Bwana Devil (1952) and The Ghost and the Darkness (1996). But these bloody exploits of the mysterious man-eating beasts is only part of the story. Do they represent a feline missing link between modern species and the prehistoric lions that preyed on our Pleitocene ancestors? Find out as you journey with Caputo and his small corps of researchers through the forbidding plains of Kenya's Tsavo National Park to unlock the secrets of Africa's most feared killers.

"Caputo gives us Africa in all of its parched and scrubby beauty, a land raw and primitive, inhabited by jackals and hyenas, acacia trees …

"Caputo gives us Africa in all of its parched and scrubby beauty, a land raw and primitive, inhabited by jackals and hyenas, acacia trees and watering holes—and, of course, lions that occasionally prey on homo sapiens. —Chicago Sun-Times

"A sprightly and informative travel adventure." —New York Times

"…engrossing, amusing, and fast-paced." —Washington Post