Elephant Bill

New York: Doubleday & Company Inc. (c.1950) 250 pp. An affectionate account of the remarkable elephants who work in Burma's teak forests, by the man who spent twenty-five years directing elephants in peace and war. With 32 pages of photographs.... a few taken by the author, the others by Muir Wright, Fish Herring, John Booth and the late Peter Bankes... Here is the complete life cycle of the elephant, which, strangely, parallels that of man. Many elephants... the brave ones...the wise ones...the murderous ones and the jokers... spring to life in these pages. Colonel Williams continues with the heroic record of the elephants as soldiers in the Burma Campaign and includes a vivid description of the harrowing trek of 45 of them on a march over the trackless six thousand foot mountains to India.... a feat unequalled except perhaps by Hannibal. Written with delightful humour, 'Elephant Bill' is filled with astonishing information about jungle lore and native superstition. The reader will be completely captivated by these animals! Beige cloth boards...dark brown title print to spine. Elephant head drawing to front board. Endpapers make up a two-page map spread depicting "Route of elephant with women and children evacuees, Feb, 1942" and "Escape of elephants across Munipur and Assam March, 1944." A 'list of illustrations' provided. The author worked as a forest manager for the Bombay Burma Trading Corporation for 22 years. For three years he was with the British Army during the Burma Campaign directing the work of the elephants. Price-intact photo dust jacket. A Great Read!. Hard Cover. Very Good/Very Good.