Life on the Edge: Tristan Voorspuy's Fatal Love of Africa - Hardcover

Adrian Dangar

4.2

20 ratings by Goodreads

9781846892660: Life on the Edge: Tristan Voorspuy's Fatal Love of Africa

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 184689266X ISBN 13: 9781846892660

Publisher: Quiller Publishing Ltd, 2018

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"This is a gripping story, funny, inspiring and sad. Tristan's entire life was about risk, its joys and sorrows. To a risk-averse culture cosily at home, it will be a revelation." - charles Moore, The Spectator

"When Tristan Voorspuy was murdered trying to protect his property in Kenya in March 2017, it sent shockwaves around the world...using his diaries and the testament of family and friends, Voorspuy's story: Life on the Edge; has been beautifully written by Adrian Dangar." - Marcus Armytage, The Daily Telegraph

The true story of Tristan Voorspuy - 'one of the last stylishly mad people in Kenya'

Once described by the actress, Joanna Lumley, as 'the man with no fear', Tristan Voorspuy spent his whole life living up to the legend. Early stints in Northern Ireland and Germany with the Blues and Royals regiment were but a precursor to a life defined by his love of Africa, a life cut tragically short in 2017 on his beloved ranch, Sosian.

From his epic motorbike ride from Cairo to Cape Town, to extraordinary wildlife encounters and many death-defying light aircraft near misses, Life on the Edge paints a picture of a man determined to live life to the full. It is also the story of compassion, conservation and, ultimately, tragedy. In the last two decades of his life, Voorspuy transformed the overgrazed and drought-blighted Sosian ranch in Northern Kenya into a celebrated game reserve, acclaimed tourist destination and successful cattle ranch. True to form, it was whilst defending this property that an unarmed Tristan, on horseback, was gunned down and killed, a murder that sent shockwaves around the world.

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Review:

From his epic motorbike ride from Cairo to Cape Town, to extraordinary wildlife encounters and many death-defying light aircraft near misses, Life On The Edge documents how Tristan was determined to live life to the full. It is also the story of compassion, conservation and, ultimately, tragedy. --Gemma Redrup, Horse & Hound

Life on the Edge is the story of someone who "pranced" where the rest are destined to "plod"... Danger runs fast through Mr Dangar's book. One of Tristan's nine lives disappears in the wreckage of a terrifying gyrocopter incident and his penultimate one is lost as he's shunted along the ground by a hippo after being knocked from his horse. However, this is the story of a man in full. Its strength as a biography lies in its honesty; as well as bravery and endeavour, there are marital infidelity, flashes of arrogance and moments of snobbishness. Tristan met his death at the sharp end of an AK-47 during Kenyan socio-political unrest. It's hard, in some ways, to understand why he rode out to a lodge occupied by armed poachers, but most of us lack the sort of passion that Mr Dangar portrays so brilliantly a passion, in Tristan's case, for a magical landscape and all the wild creatures that live there. --Patrick Galbraith, Country Life

This tribute to him, by Adrian Dangar, his friend for 30 years, is a wonderful testament to a life lived with passion and enthusiasm. It affords the reader the opportunity to get to know the man so many called a friend, and pays fitting to a charismatic conservationist, who won a troop of friends... Voorspuy's life reads like a book. And a book you want to read. How fortunate that Dangar has made it such an eloquent one. --The Field

About the Author:

Adrian Dangar first met Tristan Voorspuy in Devon 30 years ago, and with his help later established Wild and Exotic, a travel company specialising in riding safaris and tailor-made journeys around the world. He has travelled extensively throughout Africa, South America and Asia on numerous writing and travel assignments, and is a regular contributor to Country Life, The Field Magazine and Horse & Hound.

His first book, True to the Line (9781846892448), was published by Quiller in 2017. Adrian lives in rural North Yorkshire with his wife and family and enjoys fieldsports, travel and the countryside.

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