For more than 50 years David Bristow has been jaunting around southern Africa collecting curious wilderness anecdotes and historical nuggets from chats around the fireside as well as the rare books sections of the region’s foremost libraries. His singular obsession with the region’s remarkable people, creatures and places has culminated in a treasure trove of travel writing that plucks a motley crew of fascinating individuals from relative obscurity, connects the dots between past and present, and renews our appreciation for our natural heritage.

Loony Birds, Lion Men and the Snake That Was a Gerbil draws from Bristow’s Stories from the Veld collection to bring readers the ultimate compilation of fascinating characters, extraordinary insights and action-packed bush tales of derring-do. Meet a 5-feet-tall, gender-bending doctor prone to gun duels and a Khoi chief who escaped Robben Island multiple times.

Venture to Mapungubwe, South Africa’s very own El Dorado, learn how the Sabi Reserve’s first game ranger fought off two lions with the help of his trusty hound and get ready to be astonished.