Michael Allin:Zarafa : a giraffe's story
- hardcover 1999, ISBN: 9780747222996
BBC Books. Good. 189 x 245mm. Hardcover. 1997. 320 pages. dj worn<br>Following the hugely popular and successful Around the World in 80 Days and Pole to Pole, Michael Palin set of… More...
BBC Books. Good. 189 x 245mm. Hardcover. 1997. 320 pages. dj worn<br>Following the hugely popular and successful Around the World in 80 Days and Pole to Pole, Michael Palin set off to meet another challenge: an anti-clockwise circumnavigation of the world's largest ocean, the Pacific. Eighteen countries b order the vast expanse of sea that is the Pacific. Palin travelle d through them by air, train, boat, car, and on foot, exploring s ome of the most beautiful landscapes on earth. As he moved throug h different countries he met the wonderfully diverse communities that make up their populations, many of whom lead far from ordina ry lives. Whether he's talking to head-hunters in Borneo or eati ng maggots in Mexico, Palin recounts his adventures in a vivid an d lively style that brilliantly evokes the full colour and richne ss of the Pacific Rim. Editorial Reviews Amazon com Review Mich ael Palin has certainly been busy since his days with Monty Pytho n's Flying Circus. In Full Circle, Palin and a film crew go on a year-long adventure visiting 18 countries along the Pacific Rim. The film was eventually made into a 10-part PBS series, to which this book serves as a companion. Not for nothing is this part of the world called the Ring of Fire; volcanoes punctuate the landsc ape, and Palin even climbs one still smoking from a recent erupti on. But the difficult landscape is only one challenge in this at times hair-raising, at times hilarious, always fascinating journe y around the world's largest ocean. In the Philippines, Palin wit nesses psychic surgery: on the Urubamba River, Palin simultaneous ly clings for his life to a dugout canoe as he shoots the rapids and keeps up with England's progress in the World Cup via shortwa ve radio. Whether he's visiting a Gulag camp in Siberia or chow ing down on maggots in Mexico, Palin meets the challenges of roug h travel with grace, courage, and more than a little humor. Full Circle is fun to read, includes many color photographs from Palin 's adventures, and makes a terrific addition to the armchair trav eler's bookshelf. --This text refers to an out of print or unavai lable edition of this title. From Library Journal Palin and his associates spent nearly a year touring the Pacific Rim developing and videoing a BBC program. Beginning on a small northern island , the group circles through 18 countries bordering the Pacific Oc ean. In each area, Palin highlights something unique, such as sla ve labor camps or volcanoes. Palin's prior affiliation with Monty Python's Flying Circus has made him well known in the UK, but le ss so in the United States. Reading his day-by-day record of the journey, he includes personal feelings, anxieties, and thrills. T he material, personalized with his creative viewpoint, is often i ntriguing. Despite publicity-laden acts like eating maggots with natives, he shows himself to be an intelligent, relatively normal , worried father and loving husband. His English pronunciations a re generally understood from the context, except when he speaks o f going to see geezers: most Americans will fail to fathom for ap proximately two (amusing) minutes that he is talking about geyser s. Overall, he is an excellent reader, with a strong, clear voice and meaningful phrasing. The journey is so extensive that no sub ject receives any in-depth coverage, but the content is generally interesting. Libraries with devout armchair travelers should con sider this well-written diary of an unusual trek. Recommended.?Ca rolyn Alexander, Brigadoon Lib., Salinas, CA Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. About the Author Riley Ha rt is the girl who wears her heart on her sleeve. She's a hopeles s romantic. A lover of sexy stories, passionate men, and writing about all the trouble they can get into together. If she's not wr iting, you'll probably find her reading. Riley lives in Califor nia with her awesome family, who she is thankful for everyday. -- This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of thi s title. From AudioFile Let's capture Michael Palin and make him bring us on his next voyage. This one is the circumnavigation of the Pacific Rim, and it's, at times, so frightening that it's pr obably best that he go without us and just continue to read his j ournals aloud. He munches maggots and sees the splendors of dista nt civilizations, all the while injecting historical facts and pe rsonal asides. He characterizes his new acquaintances in the dial ects and accents of their regions, and every so often a familiar voice from the old Monty Python appears and reminds us that Palin has a marvelous sense of humor. The combination of his glee, his sensitivity and a good headset is a fulfilling way to travel. J. P. An AudioFile Earphones Award winner. 1999 Audio Award for Unab ridged Nonfiction. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refe rs to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. ., BBC Books, 1997, 2.5, Headline. Good. 219 x 134mm. Hardcover. 1998. 224 pages. Name on title page. Spine faded.<br>In October 1826, a ship arrived at Marseille carrying the first giraffe ever seen i n France. A royal offering from Muhammad Ali, Ottoman Viceroy of Egypt, to King Charles X, she had already traveled 2,000 miles do wn the Nile to Alexandria, from where she had sailed across the M editerranean standing in the hold, her long neck and head protrud ing through a hole cut in the deck. In the spring of 1827, after wintering in Marseille, she was carefully walked 550 miles to Par is to the delight of thousands of onlookers. The viceroy's tribu te was politically motivated: He commanded the Turkish forces the n fighting the Greeks in their war of independence, and hoped his gift would persuade the French not to intervene against him. But the viceroy and his intentions were quickly forgotten as France fell in love with its beautiful stranger. Zarafa chronicles the f ull story of this remarkable animal, revealing a kaleidoscope of history, science, and culture that opens an exotic window on the early nineteenth century. From the Enlightenment's blossoming fas cination with science to Napoleon's ill-fated invasion of Egypt i n 1798-from the eminent French naturalist Étienne Geoffroy Saint- Hilaire to Bernardino Drovetti, French consul general in Egypt an d tomb robber extraordinaire-the era was full of memorable events and characters. Michael Allin deftly weaves them into the story with an appreciation for detail and an uncommon affection. The g iraffe's strange and wonderful journey linked Africa and Europe i n mutual discovery. Although her arrival did not keep the French out of Ali's war, she became an instant celebrity in Paris and ov er the next eighteen years she fascinated all of Europe. Through Michael Allin's narrative skill, Zarafa stirs the imagination as it provides a new context for the history of a distant age. Edit orial Reviews Amazon com Review Zarafa was a gentle 19th-century giraffe, a simple animal whose life was dictated by the tumultuo us times around her. From the African savanna where she was caugh t and tamed as an infant, Zarafa was shipped down the Nile--along with the meat of her mother and several hundred human slaves--to the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. From there she sailed on to France, a gift from Muhammad Ali, the Renaissance Barbarian vice roy of Egypt, intended to distract King Charles X while Egyptian forces invaded Greece. As political ploy, it didn't work. But as ambassador from an exotic land, this odd animal captivated the Fr ench people for almost two decades, as she lived out her life as part of the royal menagerie. Michael Allin intertwines natural history with a brutal chapter in the history of civilization, aug menting the clarity of both. This story of one docile animal cont rasts sharply with those of the human profiteers, warmongers, and interlopers who ultimately decide her fate. But Zarafa's otherwo rldly charm also helps us to understand the intrigue that led Nap oleon to bring not only his troops, but a small army of European intellectuals to study all aspects of Egyptian culture and histor y, in the invasion that sets up her story. --Lauran Cole Warner - -This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of th is title. Review Zarafa is all about the vanishing pleasure of w onderment -- as seen through the eyes of the men and women who wi tnessed the arrival of the first giraffe in France in 1826. -- De troit Free Press --This text refers to an out of print or unavail able edition of this title. From Publishers Weekly The baby gira ffe was captured in the highlands of Ethiopia and taken to Kharto um. She sailed down the Nile to Alexandria and across the Mediter ranean to Marseilles, where she wintered. In April 1827, Zarafa s tarted a 550-mile walk to Paris. She was accompanied by her Nubia n handler, three milk cows, two Mouflon sheep, an antelope and on e of the foremost scientists of the time, Geoffrey Saint-Hilaire. Zarafa was a gift to Charles X from the Ottoman viceroy to Egypt , Muhammad Ali, who wanted to forge a link with France. The gift was masterminded by Bernardino Dravetti, French consul, personal adviser to the viceroy and the first wholesale tomb robber of mod ern Egyptology. After 41 days on the road, Zarafa and her party a rrived to a triumphant welcome in Paris, where she remained a sta r at the Jardin des Plantes for the next 18 years. In his first b ook, Allin spins an enchanting story of Zarafa's journey through the Gallic countryside?the first giraffe in France drew crowds ev erywhere (30,000 in Lyons). To place the animal's odyssey in pers pective, he provides a richly textured background of historical d etail, starting with Napoleon's invasion of Egypt in 1798 and his corps des savants, who were stranded there for three years. This endearing work will appeal to all animal lovers, and also to tho se interested in the confluences of natural and human history. Th irty drawings, maps and images not seen by PW. BOMC, QPB and Hist ory Book Club selections; author tour. Copyright 1998 Reed Busin ess Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or un available edition of this title. From The Washington Post [Allin 's] book ... not only rescues a charming anecdote from obscurity but also makes a convincing case for its importance in the world of 19th-century Mediterranean diplomacy. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. From Kirkus Reviews In 1827, a giraffe sailed from Egypt to Marseille. It the n walked to Paris. It was France's first giraffe, and this is All in's first book. Both events are worthy of note, trailing surpris e and pleasure in their wake. Allin tells the story of Zarafa, a giraffe sent to France's King Charles X by the viceroy of Egypt, Muhammad Ali. Ali had recently invaded Greece, and Europe was ang ry at the move; Zarafa was meant to insinuate Ali into the king's favor by gracing the royal menagerie with an exotic. This all ca me about from a combination of circumstance and personality, both of which Allin ably delineates: the post-Napoleonic Egyptomania that gripped France; the cultured pirate Bernardino Drovetti, Fre nch consul general to Egypt, who trafficked in exotic animals and mummies; Ali himself, erstwhile Albanian mercenary, Francophile, up-from-nothing barbarian who consolidated his power from Nubia to Syria, and under whose reign Egypt went from the Stone Age to the Enlightenment''; Etienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, scientific w underkind of the Institut de France. And, of course, there is the giraffe (Zarafa is the Arabic-derived name Allin gives the beast ): her capture as a calf, her journey via camel, Nile felucca, se agoing brigantine, and her own four legs'' to Paris and celebrity , a monumental addition to the national cabinet de curiositis, an instant infatuation that generated vaudeville skits, hair styles , and the naming of a form of influenza in her honor. In the proc ess, Allin gives readers glimpses of Napoleon's corps de savants; histories of Alexandria, Messina, the Ptolemies; a fine caricatu re of European bureaucratic maneuvering in the early 19th century ; and, not least, a superb description of the sea's colors off Al exandria (Allin traced the route). Allin shares a talent seen in two other recent Walker books, Dava Sobel's Longitude and James d eKay's Monitor: the ability to make an obscure subject incandesce nt through crisp storytelling and a felicitous handling of arcane details. (illustrations, not seen) -- Copyright ®1998, Kirkus As sociates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out o f print or unavailable edition of this title. From Library Journ al In 1826, Muhammad Ali, the Ottoman viceroy of Egypt, sent a gi raffe to King Charles X of France. The giraffe, born in the Sudan , had to be transported 3500 miles down the Nile, across the Medi terranean, and from the port of Marseilles to Paris. There she ca used a sensation and then lived for 18 years in Le Jardin des Pla ntes. Allin fleshes out this episode, tracing the route taken by the giraffe (whom he dubs Zarafa, the Arabic name for giraffe) an d providing brief biographies of such notables as Ali; Bernardino Drovetti, the French consul in Egypt; and 'Etienne Geoffroy Sain t-Hilaire, the founder of the Paris zoo. The first half of the bo ok, concerning the French adventures in Africa, is the most inter esting, whereas the long section minutely detailing Zarafa's trek across France seems a bit like overkill. While not an essential purchase, this first book by a former screenwriter provides a gli mpse of a time period not commonly written about and would be wor th considering for historical or history of science collections.? Beth Clewis Crim, Prince William P.L., VA Copyright 1998 Reed Bus iness Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. From the Back Cover It was th e Age of Enlightenment. And in Paris, a gentle, wide-eyed strang er was all the rage.... In 1826, a twelve-foot giraffe, captured in the Sudan, shipped down the Nile, carried across the Mediterr anean in a ship's hold, was now walking across France. A gift fro m Muhammed Ali, the most powerful man in Africa, this beautiful s tranger would become an object of adoration in France. But in thi s compelling, beautifully rendered book, Michael Allin looks beyo nd the fairy tale to reveal the complex web of politics, culture, religion, and greed that fueled the phenomenon of the giraffe ca lled Zarafa. Opening an exotic window on the early nineteenth ce ntury, brilliantly capturing what it is like to see something for the very first time, Zarafa weaves a captivating tale of nations and nature, of colorful scoundrels and dangerous rulers -- and o f a remarkable animal that charmed a nation, bribed a leader, and brought two very different worlds together. --This text refers t o an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. About th e Author Michael Allin is the author of Zarafa: A Giraffe's True Story, from Deep in Africa to the Heart of Paris and the novel Th e Christmas Kid. --This text refers to an out of print or unavail able edition of this title. ., Headline, 1998, 2.5<
