Zarafa : A Giraffe's True Story, from Deep in Africa to the Heart of Paris Paperback - 1999 - 2nd Edition
by Michael Allin
- Used
- very good
- Paperback
In 1826, a giraffe that had been captured in the Sudan, was shipped to France. Allin looks beyond the fairy tale to reveal the complex web of politics, culture, religion and greed that fueled this phenomenon.
Description
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Details
- Title Zarafa : A Giraffe's True Story, from Deep in Africa to the Heart of Paris
- Author Michael Allin
- Binding Paperback
- Edition number 2nd
- Edition 2
- Condition Used - Very Good
- Pages 224
- Volumes 1
- Language ENG
- Publisher Random House Publishing Group, New York
- Date 1999
- Features Index
- Bookseller's Inventory # G0385334117I4N00
- ISBN 9780385334112 / 0385334117
- Weight 0.5 lbs (0.23 kg)
- Dimensions 8.1 x 4.7 x 0.7 in (20.57 x 11.94 x 1.78 cm)
-
Themes
- Chronological Period: 19th Century
- Chronological Period: 1800-1850
- Cultural Region: Central Europe
- Cultural Region: French
- Cultural Region: Western Europe
- Dewey Decimal Code 599.638
First line
From the rear cover
And in Paris, a gentle, wide-eyed stranger was all the rage....
In 1826, a twelve-foot giraffe, captured in the Sudan, shipped down the Nile, carried across the Mediterranean in a ship's hold, was now walking across France. A gift from Muhammed Ali, the most powerful man in Africa, this "beautiful stranger" would become an object of adoration in France. But in this compelling, beautifully rendered book, Michael Allin looks beyond the fairy tale to reveal the complex web of politics, culture, religion, and greed that fueled the phenomenon of the giraffe called Zarafa.
Opening an exotic window on the early nineteenth century, brilliantly capturing what it is like to see something for the very first time, Zarafa weaves a captivating tale of nations and nature, of colorful scoundrels and dangerous rulers -- and of a remarkable animal that charmed a nation, bribed a leader, and brought two very different worlds together.
