The classic memoir of Africa, aviation, and adventure—the inspiration for Paula McLain’s Circling the Sun and “a bloody wonderful book” (Ernest Hemingway). Beryl Markham’s life story is a true epic. Not only did she set records and break barriers as a pilot, she shattered societal expectations, threw herself into torrid love affairs, survived desperate crash landings—and chronicled everything. A … chronicled everything. A contemporary of Karen Blixen (better known as Isak Dinesen, the author of Out of Africa), Markham left an enduring memoir that soars with astounding candor and shimmering insights.
A rebel from a young age, the British-born Markham was raised in Kenya’s unforgiving farmlands. She trained as a bush pilot at a time when most Africans had never seen a plane. In 1936, she accepted the ultimate challenge: to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean from east to west, a feat that fellow female aviator Amelia Earhart had completed in reverse just a few years before. Markham’s successes and her failures—and her deep, lifelong love of the “soul of Africa”—are all told here with wrenching honesty and agile wit.
Hailed as “one of the greatest adventure books of all time” by Newsweek and “the sort of book that makes you think human beings can do anything” by the New York Times, West with the Night remains a powerful testament to one of the iconic lives of the twentieth century.
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One of the most amazing books of our time.
Love this book. I’m a pilot, no longer active at age 72, so the book brought a lot of memories.
In my top ten..
Wonderful storytelling, and a view of Africa of the past.
This is a great book, wonderfully written by a most remarkable woman.
I have recommended it to all my reading friends.
I hated to see the last page turned.
I read this book long ago. I don’t remember many of the details. I do remember thinking (as I was reading it back then) that it was so very beautifully written. Lovely use of the English language. I look forward to reading it again some day.
I read this years ago and never forgot it, although I read so much I sometimes forget last week’s. The writing is powerful and her use of language elegiac. The story itself is remarkable.
This is a well written book and details an incredible life. Thoroughly engrossing piece of history. And like all written history, it begs to be fact checked. Better than fiction.
This is the most beautifully written book I have ever read. The language is mesmerizing. Perfect.
Excellent read
I bought this book because of the blurb on the back. The recommendation says, I thought I could write. But THIS author, she can REALLY write. And then the name of the person recommending the book–Ernest Hemingway. All I needed to know.
He was right. She paints pictures, she pulls you in, she delivers thrills. The stories are one per …
I have listened to several times on Audible and decided it was one to add to my book library as an all time favorite.
One of the best books I have ever read. Other top reviewers have said everything that I would want to say about this book. Nonetheless, I wanted to add my own 5-star review to the rest. An epic book by an epic woman. I wish I could have known her. Yet, even if I had, I wonder if I actually would have known her. While she writes so richly about …
From savage to sage
This book is really jaw-dropping good, although that doesn’t make any sense at a first glance. Just imagine: I don’t like memoirs , I prefer good fiction. I certainly don’t like hunting stories, but in this book the author tells us about confronting lions, killing warthogs, hunting elephant bulls—with huge tusks—, all of it …
orn in 1902, Beryl Markham was a woman ahead of her time. A champion racehorse trainer, author, and bush pilot, Markham was the first female pilot in Kenya and flew solo across the Atlantic during the early years of the aviation age. She is also a fine author, as evidenced by this memoir, in which she writes what must be one of my all-time …
Enjoyed this book as well as any I have read. It was very enlightening to read the how Africa was and know how much it has changed. It was a good look at history being made.
Great writing by a great author and a very brave woman!
“West With the Night” by Beryl Markham” is a memoir published in 1942. Beryl was raised in a farm in Africa by a single father. She started her adult life training horses, later became a pilot flying throughout Africa, delivering mail, scouting elephants for safaris, and delivering sick or injured to hospitals. Beryl was a fiercely independent …
One of the top 5 books I’ve ever read, (on a list that starts with War and Peace) this is the personal memoir of a remarkable individual. Exciting, funny, suspenseful, and on and on, Markham’s stories are unforgettable in addition to being some of the most beautifully written prose ever. Even Hemingway thought so! Get ready to enjoy this fantastic …