West with the Night

by Beryl Markham

Overview

2010 Reprint of 1942 First Edition. Markham is often described as "the first person" to fly the Atlantic east to west in a solo non-stop flight, though most now dispute this claim. When Markham decided to take on the Atlantic crossing, no pilot had yet flown non-stop from Europe to New York, and no woman had made the westward flight solo, though several had died trying. Markham hoped to claim both records. On September 4, 1936, she took off from Abingdon, England. After a 20-hour flight she crash-landed at Baleine Cove on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. In spite of falling short of her goal, Markham had become the first woman to cross the Atlantic east-to-west solo, and the first person to make it from England to North America non-stop. She was celebrated as an aviation pioneer. Markham chronicled her many adventures in her memoir, West with the Night, published in 1942. Despite strong reviews in the press, the book sold modestly, and then quickly went out of print. After living for many years in the United States, Markham moved back to Kenya in 1952, becoming for a time the most successful horse trainer in the country.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781578989539
Publisher:	Martino Fine Books
Publication date:	08/10/2010
Pages:	306
Sales rank:	206,859
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Beryl Markham (1902–1986) was a British-born Kenyan aviatrix, adventurer, and racehorse trainer.

Sara Wheeler is the author of, most recently, The Magnetic North and Access All Areas.

Table of Contents

Introduction Sara Wheeler xi

Book 1

I Message from Nungwe 3

II Men with Blackwater Die 17

III The Stamp of Wilderness 33

IV Why Do We Fly? 45

Book 2

V He Was a Good Lion 57

VI Still Is the Land 67

VII Praise God for the Blood of the Bull 77

VIII And We Be Playmates, Thou and I 99

IX Royal Exile 108

X Was There a Horse with Wings? 117

Book 3

XI My Trail Is North 131

XII Hodi! 143

XIII Na Kupa Hati M'zuri 155

XIV Errands of the Wind 175

Book 4

XV Birth of a Life 185

XVI Ivory and Sansevieria 197

XVII I May Have to Shoot Him 205

XVIII Captives of the Rivers 219

XIX What of the Hunting, Hunter Bold? 228

XX Kwaheri Means Farewell 245

XXI Search for a Libyan Fort 254

XXII Benghazi by Candlelight 264

XXIII West with the Night 277

XXIV The Sea Will Take Small Pride 292

Editorial Reviews

Markham's West with the Night was originally published in the early 1940s and disappeared, only to be rediscovered and reprinted in the 1980s when it became a smash hit. This latest incarnation is a lavishly illustrated edition. Though Markham is known for setting an aviation record for a solo flight across the Atlantic from East to West-hence the title-she was also a bush pilot in Africa, sharing adventures with Blor Blixen and Denys Finch-Hatton of Out of Africa fame. Hemingway, who met Markham during his safari days, dubbed the book "bloody wonderful."

Library Journal

Did you read Beryl Markham's book, West with the Night? I knew her fairly well in Africa and never would have suspected that she could and would put pen to paper except to write in her flyer's log book. As it is, she has written so well, and marvelously well, that I was completely ashamed of myself as a writer. I felt that I was simply a carpenter with words, picking up whatever was furnished on the job and nailing them together and sometimes making an okay pig pen. But [she] can write rings around all of us who consider ourselves writers. The only parts of it that I know about personally, on account of having been there at the time and heard the other people's stories, are absolutely true . . . I wish you would get it and read it because it is really a bloody wonderful book.” —Ernest Hemingway

“West with the Night is the sort of book that makes you think human beings can do anything . . . When she was a mere child, she was clawed by a lion. This should have been enough to make anybody timid for life, but not Beryl . . . A jewel of taut writing and thrilling reading . . . The girl can write.” —John Chamberlain, The New York Times

From the Publisher

Julie Harris’s presentation of Beryl Markham’s autobiography is an outstanding success for the audio format. Consider it an essential title for any collection. This is a superb example of the enhancement voice can give to text. The clarity and warmth of Harris’s voice perfectly match Markham’s exuberance and love of life. Her perfect diction glides smoothly over African names, and she successfully uses dialect and inflection for native characters. The haunting reflections of British East Africa in the ‘20’s and ‘30’s, the airplanes, horses, dogs and wild animals--present an unforgettable portrait enlivened by the brilliant narration. R.F.W. Winner of AUDIOFILE Earphones Award ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine

DEC 92 - AudioFile