Dreaming of lions - Elizabeth Marshall Thomas

Elizabeth Marshall Thomas has spent a lifetime observing other creatures and other cultures, - from her own backyard to the African savannah. Her books have transported millions of - readers into the hidden lives of animals-from dogs and cats to lions and deer. She's - chronicled the daily lives of African tribes, and even imagined the lives of prehistoric - humans. She illuminates unknown worlds like no other. Now, she opens the doors to her own. - Dreaming of Lions traces Thomas's life from her earliest days, including when, as a young - woman in the 1950s, she and her family packed up and left for the Kalahari Desert to study - the Ju/Wa Bushmen. The world's understanding of African tribal cultures has never been the - same since. Nor has Thomas, as the experience taught her not only how to observe, but also - how to navigate in male-dominated fields like anthropology and animal science and do what - she cared about most: spending time with animals and people in wild places, and relishing the - people and animals around her at home. - Readers join Thomas as she returns to Africa, after college and marriage, with her two young - children, ending up in the turmoil leading to Idi Amin's bloody coup. She invites us into her - family life, her writing, and her fascination with animals-from elephants in Namibia, to dogs - in her kitchen, or cougars outside her New England farmhouse. She also recounts her personal - struggles, writing about her own life with the same kind of fierce honesty that she applies to - the world around her, and delivering a memoir that not only shares tremendous insights, but - also provides tremendous inspiration.