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Book Review of An Affair with Africa: Expeditions and Adventures Across a Continent

dipperranch avatar reviewed on + 2 more book reviews


You've got to be a biology nerd to enjoy this book but did you know that there are certain beetles called myrmecophiles that live in ant hills and follow the colonies when they move? They even have evolved to somewhat look like ants. You will learn a lot about ants and ant-mimics in this book along with 1960s and 1970s adventures of the author and her expert husband exploring insects in Africa and dealing with the human colonial unrest at that time. I was even surprised to find a photo and mention of a California associate who joined the research team as a graduate student. A very unusual book describing biological field research and the struggles of somewhat naive American scientists in the exotic and politically changing lands of Africa.