Born Free: The Story of Elsa

Joy Adamson

Pan Macmillan, Feb 28, 2011 - Biography & Autobiography - 432 pages

Fifty years ago Joy Adamson first introduced to the world the story of her life alongside Elsa the lioness, whom she had rescued as an orphaned cub, and raised at her home in Kenya. But as Elsa had been born free, Joy made the heartbreaking decision that she must be returned to the wild when she was old enough to fend for herself.

Since the first publication of Born Free and its sequels Living Free and Forever Free, generations of readers have been enchanted, inspired and moved by these books’ uplifting charm and the remarkable interaction between Joy and Elsa.

Millions have also come to know and love Born Free through the immortal film starring Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers. But here is the chance to rediscover the original story in this 50th anniversary edition, in the words of the woman who reared Elsa and walked with the lions.

Contents

• Cub Life: 3
• Elsa Meets Other Wild Animals: 15
• Elsa Goes to the Indian Ocean: 26
• Safari to Lake Rudolf: 33
• Elsa and Wild Lions: 52
• The First Release: 60
• The Second Release: 75
• The Final Test: 92
• Postscripts: 106
• Part: 123
• Elsa Mates with a Wild Lion: 125
• The Birth of the Cubs: 136
• We See the Cubs: 153
• The Cubs Meet Friends: 161
• The Cubs in Camp: 171
• The Personality of the Cubs: 178
• Elsa Meets Her Publisher: 186
• The Camp Is Burned: 197
• Elsas Fight: 210
• Dangers of the Bush: 221
• Cubs and Cameras: 231
• Elsa Educates the Cubs: 241
• A New Year Begins: 256
• Part Three: 265
• The Deportation Order: 267
• Elsa Is Ill: 278
• Elsas Death: 284
• Guardians of Elsas Children: 292
• Plans to Move the Cubs: 299
• Have the Cubs Found a Pride?: 306
• The Cubs in Trouble 311 30 Crisis: 315
• Preparations for Trapping the Cubs: 324
• The Capture: 329
• The Journey to the Serengeti: 335
• The Release: 344
• The Migration: 349
• The Ravine: 361
• Become a Tourist in the Serengeti: 371
• We See the Cubs Again: 383
• The Long Search: 391
• The Price of Freedom: 404
• Maps: 413

About the author

Joy Adamson was a pioneer in the field of conservation. With her husband George, senior game warden in a huge area of the northern frontier province of Kenya, she established one of the world’s first wild animal appeals. Now the Elsa Conservation Trust, it operates an education, training and wildlife retreat centre at the Adamsons’ former home of Elsamere, on the shores of Lake Naivasha.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Born Free: The Story of Elsa; Volume 81 of Macmillan Collector's Library
• Author: Joy Adamson
• Edition: reprint
• Publisher: Pan Macmillan, 2011
• ISBN: 0330536745, 9780330536745
• Length: 432 pages
• Subjects: Biography & Autobiography / Personal Memoirs; Nature / Animals / Big Cats; Nature / Animals / Mammals; Nature / Environmental Conservation & Protection