Reading Matters (week 041) 07 Oct 2025

Majestic lions, once kings of the jungle, now face possible extinction. Trophy hunters hang their tawny-maned heads on their walls, Asians use their bones for medicine, but worst of all, us humans are encroaching on their vast savannahs as world populations continue to expand. Mankind is their greatest enemy.

Capturing this information, conservationists Don Pinnock and Colin Bell, in The Last Lions (Struik / Penguin) have taken us travelling across Africa in their collection of stories told by  rangers, scientists, community peoples and environmentalists. The result is a glossy, almost too heavy to lift, compendium of riveting, stirring tales that, if you don’t love lions at the beginning, will have you almost weeping at the end. Let’s hope that, thanks to Don and Colin and others of their ilk, we don’t one day have to show our grandchildren this splendid record of what once was and say, “we saw these stately, sublime creatures. We actually saw them.”  Some of the loveliest pictures of lions in their natural habitat, taken by some of the world’s greatest wildlife photographers, sweep us into a wild world we might be losing.

I’m crazy about the Springboks – who isn’t! – and the most capped player in South African rugby history, Eben Etzebeth, has now written the story of his life in Unlocked (Jonathan Ball).

He’s a gentle giant, who cries when he needs to; adores his wife and baby girl and is both humble and proud that he’s a Bok.  One of his closest friends is Siya Kolisi and he writes of his and the team’s friendship, in an easy to read style. You’ll enjoy this book.

Reading Matters with Sue Grant-Marshall