Peter Beard’s The End of the Game (1988)

A landmark work of 20th-century photojournalism and environmental commentary, transforming from a romanticized vision of East African hunting into a stark chronicle of ecological collapse in Tsavo National Park during the 1960s and 70s.

The elaborate, multi-font title page is an intentional stylistic pastiche of 19th-century colonial hunting journals and expedition logs, setting up a sharp contrast with the modern environmental tragedy documented inside.

The volume features never-before-published handwritten diaries and field records of Colonel John Henry Patterson, who famously hunted the legendary "Man-Eaters of Tsavo" lions during the construction of the Uganda Railway in 1898.

Designed by legendary art director Ruth Ansel—celebrated for her work with Harper's Bazaar, Vogue, and The New York Times Magazine—the visual layout matches Beard's collage aesthetic, incorporating personal journals, animal blood, bone fragments, and archival photography.

Originally published in 1965 (Viking Press), this is the revised and expanded 1988 UK edition by Thames & Hudson, printed and bound in Japan.

245mm x 275mm
Soft cover edition, 1988. Top of spine dented; the binding is faded, more so on the spine.

R1,000