Shadows in an African Twilight - Paperback

by John Brandt (Foreword by), Kevin Thomas (Author)

Game Ranger, Special Force Soldier, Professional Hunter and Personal Security Officer - Shadows in an African Twilight - is a collection of fascinating stories about a life of adventure spread across nearly four decades in Africa and culminating in Iraq. Many of the stories are not for the squeamish and tell of the aberrant behaviour of man-eating lions and killer crocodiles, stories of courageous Rhodesian game rangers who while fighting to preserve the wildlife of a beautiful country were also fighting against brutal terrorist forces. The author also relates in depth some of his experiences as a pseudo counter insurgency operator conducting counter-terrorist operations while serving in the elite Selous Scouts during the Rhodesian Bush War. A number of chapters are about many of his experiences as a professional hunter in the exciting world of African safari. Having also served in the previous South African era 'black homeland' of Ciskei he offers an often-humorous insight into life during the wayward period. This exciting book of high adventure ends with a discerning look at what it was like to work in war-torn Iraq in the specialised field of Security Escort Teams. A number of reviewers of this fascinating book, which runs to 730 pages have classed it as a form of valuable Africana.

Author Biography

Kevin Thomas, a fifth-generation African was born in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) in 1950. In March 1968 at age 17 he joined the Rhodesian Department of National Parks & Wildlife Management under their cadet game ranger scheme. Having spent 6 years as a game ranger and after having served on various remote Zambezi Valley stations, he left the department and ventured into a short-lived Zambezi Valley based hunting safari venture as a PH. When still a game ranger Kevin did numerous tours in the operational theatre as a combat tracker for various Rhodesian Army units. Due to a worsening insurgency war erupting in Rhodesia Kevin stopped hunting and in January 1974 and became a founding member of the Rhodesian Army's elite Selous Scouts Special Forces counter insurgency unit, where he served for 3 years as an NCO on operations, and another 2 years running the unit's counter insurgency wing at Training Troop. During the latter part of 1979 he departed the Selous Scouts as a senior NCO and became a PH, a career choice that has afforded him the opportunity to hunt across much of Southern Africa. In 1993 Kevin began writing hunting stories for African Hunter magazine, and in addition he has for several years been a regular contributor of hunting articles to South Africa's popular Magnum magazine. He has also written for the US magazine Successful Hunter and he also regularly contributes hunting stories in the UK to Sporting Rifle magazine. Kevin is the author of three published books and retired from hunting at the end of 2013, but continues to write. During 2015 and at age 65, he and his wife Brenda chose to depart Africa for the UK, where they now reside on their own 60-foot live aboard cruiser narrowboat on the UK's 2,000 miles of canals & waterways, an ideal environment for Kevin to continue with his writing and photography.