Sign-In
Cart
A Training School for Elephants
Paperback
Publisher Price: $20.00
ISBN13: 9780802167538
Publisher: Grove Press
Published: Apr 21 2026
Pages: 432
Weight: 0.84
Height: 1.30 Width: 5.50 Depth: 8.10
Language: English
Out of a sidelined, colonial-era expedition in Africa comes a new history of cruelty, deception and adventure from the acclaimed author of The Lost Pianos of Siberia
In 1879, King Leopold II of Belgium launched an ambitious plan to plunder Africa's resources. The key to cracking open the continent, or so he thought, was its elephants--if only he could train them. And so he commissioned the charismatic Irish adventurer Frederick Carter to ship four tamed Asian elephants from India to the East African coast, where they were marched inland towards Congo. The ultimate aim was to establish a training school for African elephants.
Following in the footsteps of the four elephants, Roberts pieces together the story of this long-forgotten expedition, in travels that take her to Belgium, Iraq, India, Tanzania, and Congo. The storytelling brings to life a compelling cast of historic characters and modern voices, from ivory dealers to Catholic nuns, set against rich descriptions of the landscapes travelled. In an original weave of past and present, she digs deep into historic records revealing an extraordinary--and enduring--story of colonial greed, hypocrisy, and folly.
1 different editions
Also available
Also from
Roberts, Sophy
Also in
African History
Days of Miracle and Wonder: Paul Simon and the Trials and Triumphs of Graceland
Kahn, Ashley
Hardcover
King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa
Hochschild, Adam
Paperback
We Are Heirs of the World's Revolutions: Speeches from the Burkina Faso Revolution 1983-87
Sankara, Thomas
Paperback
Slow Poison: IDI Amin, Yoweri Museveni, and the Making of the Ugandan State
Mamdani, Mahmood
Hardcover
The Second Emancipation: Nkrumah, Pan-Africanism, and Global Blackness at High Tide
French, Howard W.
Hardcover
Born in Blackness: Africa, Africans, and the Making of the Modern World, 1471 to the Second World War
French, Howard W.
Paperback
Sufferings in Africa: The Astonishing Account of a New England Sea Captain Enslaved by North African Arabs
Riley, James
Paperback
The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit: A Jewish Family's Exodus from Old Cairo to the New World
Lagnado, Lucette
Paperback
River of the Gods: Genius, Courage, and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile
Millard, Candice
Paperback
Seeking Sexual Freedom: African Rites, Rituals, and Sankofa in the Bedroom
Sekyiamah, Nana Darkoa
Hardcover
A Human Being Died That Night: A South African Woman Confronts the Legacy of Apartheid
Gobodo-Madikizela, Pumla
Paperback
Hero of the Empire: The Boer War, a Daring Escape, and the Making of Winston Churchill
Millard, Candice
Paperback
Jews Under Moroccan Skies: Two Thousand Years of Jewish Life
Elmaleh, Rapha'el
Ricketts, George
Paperback
When The World Was Black, Part One: The Untold History of the World's First Civilizations Prehistoric Culture
Understanding, Supreme
Hardcover
Ancient African Empires: An Enthralling Guide to the Major Kingdoms and Civilizations of Africa
Wellman, Billy
Hardcover
We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families: Stories from Rwanda
Gourevitch, Philip
Paperback
The Golden Trade of the Moors: West African Kingdoms in the Fourteenth Century
Bovill, E. W.
Bovill, Edward W.
Paperback
Mdw Dtr: Divine Speech: A Historiographical Reflection of African Deep Thought from the Time of the Pharaohs to the Present Paperback
Carruthers, Jacob H.
Paperback
The Lumumba Plot: The Secret History of the CIA and a Cold War Assassination
Reid, Stuart A.
Paperback
Another Man's War: The True Story of One Man's Battle to Save Children in the Sudan
Childers, Sam
Paperback
Cuba and the Independence War in Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde: The Fall of the Last Colonial Empire in Africa
Dreke, Victor
Paperback
Nuer: A Description of the Modes of Livelihood and Political Institutions of a Nilotic People
Evans-Pritchard, E. E.
Hardcover
Hidden Treasures of the Ethiopian Bible in English Complete: Uncovering the Secrets of the Deuterocanonical Apocrypha, Enoch, and Lost Writings
Thornfield, Alexander J.
Paperback
Born in Blackness: Africa, Africans, and the Making of the Modern World, 1471 to the Second World War
French, Howard W.
Hardcover
Mirror to the Church: Resurrecting Faith After Genocide in Rwanda
Katongole, Emmanuel M.
Wilson-Hartgrove, Jonathan
Paperback
Dancing in the Glory of Monsters: The Collapse of the Congo and the Great War of Africa
Stearns, Jason K.
Paperback
In the Company of Heroes: The Personal Story Behind Black Hawk Down
Hartov, Steven
Durant, Michael J.
Paperback
A School for My Village: A Promise to the Orphans of Nyaka
Kaguri, Twesigye Jackson
Linville, Susan Urbanek
Paperback
Politically Unconscious: The Psychic Aftermath of the Sudanese Revolution
Khougali, Mohamed
Paperback
Pan-Africanism and Communism: The Communist International, Africa, and the Diaspora, 1919-1939
Adi, Hakim
Paperback
Scapegoats of the Empire: The True Story of Breaker Morant's Bushveldt Carbineers
Witton, Edward
Paperback
World History: A Visual Journey From The Dawn Of Civilization To The 21st Century
Alive, History Brought
Paperback
When Victims Become Killers: Colonialism, Nativism, and the Genocide in Rwanda
Mamdani, Mahmood
Paperback
By Flesh and Toil: How Sex, Race, and Labor Shaped the Early French Empire
Lamotte, Mélanie
Hardcover
Country of My Skull: Guilt, Sorrow, and the Limits of Forgiveness in the New South Africa
Krog, Antjie
Paperback
Three Sips of Gin: Dominating the Battlespace with Rhodesia's Famed Selous Scouts
Bax, Timothy
Paperback
African Saints Saints, Martyrs, and Holy People from the Continent of Africa
Quinn, Frederick
Paperback
Algiers, Third World Capital: Freedom Fighters, Revolutionaries, Black Panthers
Mokhtefi, Elaine
Paperback
African History: Explore The Amazing Timeline of The World's Richest Continent - The History, Culture, Folklore, Mythology & More of Africa
Brought Alive, History
Paperback
When The World Was Black, Part One: The Untold History of the World's First Civilizations Prehistoric Culture
Understanding, Supreme
Paperback
This Child Will Be Great: Memoir of a Remarkable Life by Africa's First Woman President
Sirleaf, Ellen Johnson
Paperback
The Kebra Nagast: King Solomon, The Queen of Sheba & Her Only Son Menyelek - Ethiopian Legends and Bible Folklore
Budge, E. a. Wallis
Paperback
Mythology: Captivating Greek, Egyptian, Norse Celtic and Roman Myths of Gods, Goddesses, Heroes, and Monsters
Clayton, Matt
Hardcover
Ripples from the Zambezi: Passion, Entrepreneurship, and the Rebirth of Local Economies
Sirolli, Ernesto
Paperback
World History, Volume 2: from 1400 (paperback, b&w)
Kordas, Ann
Lynch, Ryan J.
Nelson, Brooke
Paperback
Nineveh and Its Remains: With an account of a visit to the Chaldæan Christians of Kurdistan, and the Yezidis, or devil-worshippers; and an enqu
Layard, Austen Henry
Paperback
People in Motion: Flexible States and Porous Boundaries in the History of Coastal West Africa
Barnes, Sandra T.
Hardcover
Republicans on the Throne: A Personal Account of Ethiopia's Modernization and Painful Quest for Democracy
Gedamu, Tekalign
Paperback
When the World Was Black Part Two: The Untold History of the World's First Civilizations - Ancient Civilizations
Understanding, Supreme
Hardcover
When the World was Black Part Two: The Untold History of the World's First Civilizations Ancient Civilizations
Understanding, Supreme
Paperback
The Heretic of Cacheu: Crispina Peres and the Struggle Over Life in Seventeenth-Century West Africa
Green, Toby
Hardcover
They Poured Fire on Us from the Sky: The True Story of Three Lost Boys from Sudan
Deng, Benson
Ajak, Benjamin
Deng, Alephonsion
Paperback
Kaffir Boy: The True Story of a Black Youths Coming of Age in Apartheid South Africa
Mathabane, Mark
Paperback
The Kingdom of God in Africa: A History of African Christianity
Gitau, Wanjiru M.
Shaw, Mark
Paperback
THE END OF NORMAL - A Witness to the Unravelling of White Power in South Africa
Du Preez, Max
Paperback