CLAWS and FANGS. By Tony Sanchez-Arino. Classics in African Hunting series volume 68.

2011 1st English language edition. 8vo (165 x 245mm). Ppxviii,332. Colour and b/w photographs. Blue cloth gilt. Blue slip-case. Edition limited to 1,000 numbered copies.

There are few names as enduring in the field of African big-game hunting as that of Tony Sanchez-Arino. Not only has he been hunting on the African continent for over five decades, but he is also one of the very few left who actually had significant hunting experience in Africa prior to the departure of the colonial powers. What other hunter can recall gorillas still being shot legally, and who else has twenty-eight elephants to his name with tusks of 100 pounds or greater? This book is a highly eclectic mix of the old and the new - reminiscences of his early days and African hunting as it is today. Tony recalls his days of hunting in Somalia before anarchy raised its ugly head. And he remembers highly unusual hunts in Gabon, Spanish Guinea, and the Northern Frontier District of Kenya, when it still was a waterless paradise with huge tuskers and a few nomadic tribes. In another chapter he tells us of the extraordinary tusks purchased by Newland and Tarlton, a safari company, for almost nothing; these tusks weighed in at an incredible 169 and 172 pounds! Tony tells how the company acquired them and how it eventually sold them again... for almost nothing! Tony also gives us a good insight into the pioneer Spanish hunters who plied their trade in Africa, and even though they have now been largely forgotten, their stories are no less fascinating. As for modern African hunting, Tony gives us an insightful look into the current situation on the African lion and the uncertainty that is constantly present when operating a safari anywhere in Africa today. There's also a chapter on how he shot his 2,000th buffalo, a riveting story of a bongo that he tried to hunt, and the truth behind the invisible northern white rhinos. Whether it's a tale of a banana-plantation-raiding elephant or an entertaining story on the elf of the African woods, the yellow-backed duiker, Tony Sanchez-Arino has one of the most entertaining and relaxing storytelling manners of anyone writing today. If you love hunting in Africa, you will love Tony's new book, which is certain to contain the most diverting tales of hunting adventures anywhere.