Laurens Van der Post and A Story Like the Wind

Africa in the 1960s was dangerous and full of life. Van der Post's great adventure novel A Story Like The Wind (its must-read sequel is A Far-Off Place) is an African idyll destroyed by mercenaries heading for the Angolan war of independance. It's a mix of wildlife conservation and John Buchan. If you like your wildlife narratives given a desperate urgency, or you like your thrillers to ride on the back of the impala, this is the fireside read for you this winter.