Green Hills of Africa

The hunt for kudu, the weight of memory, and the writer's solitary craft.

Ernest Hemingway's only work of nonfiction about the African continent is a vivid, lyrical account of a hunting expedition in East Africa, blended with meditations on writing, courage, and the meaning of a well-lived life. Published just two years after Death in the Afternoon, it stands as a unique hybrid—part adventure story, part literary manifesto, part personal confession.

The narrative follows Hemingway and his second wife, Pauline, on a month-long safari through the green hills of Tanganyika (modern-day Tanzania). He hunts kudu, lion, and other big game, but the real quarry is something else: the elusive experience of being fully alive, of testing oneself against the wild, of stripping away the clutter of civilization until only the essential remains. Interspersed with the hunt are sharp portraits of fellow hunters, native trackers, and the beauty of the African landscape, as well as debates with a fictional rival, Kandinsky, about the state of American literature and the fate of the writer in a commercial age.

This is Hemingway at his most unguarded and philosophical: a book about the thrill of the chase, the ethics of the kill, and the writer's desperate need for a place where he can work without interruption. Green Hills of Africa is Hemingway's love letter to a continent that both exhilarated and exhausted him—and a reminder that the best writing, like the best hunting, requires patience, discipline, and a willingness to wait.

• First published in 1935, Hemingway's second work of nonfiction following Death in the Afternoon

• A deeply personal account of Hemingway's love affair with Africa, hunting, and the writer's craft

• Features extended reflections on American literature, including sharp critiques of his contemporaries

Available in multiple formats:

• Paperback & Hardcover: Beautifully designed print editions presenting the complete, unabridged text made to last.

• Ebook: DRM-free EPUB compatible with Kindle, Kobo, Apple Books, and all major e-readers.

• Audiobook: Professionally narrated, complete and unabridged, available on all major audiobook platforms.

A beautifully crafted edition for your shelf, your device, or your ears, or the perfect gift for anyone who knows that the world is a fine place, and that sometimes the best way to find oneself is to get lost in the green hills of Africa.

About the Author

Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) was an American novelist, short story writer, and journalist, widely regarded as one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century. Born in Oak Park, Illinois, he served as an ambulance driver on the Italian front in World War I. Green Hills of Africa was written after the success of A Farewell to Arms (1929) and before his return to fiction with To Have and Have Not (1937). The book reflects Hemingway's deep ambivalence about fame and his longing for a simpler, more authentic life. He drew on his first African safari in 1933–1934, which he undertook with Pauline. The book's reception was mixed; some critics praised its lyricism, while others found its hunting ethic troubling. Hemingway died by suicide in 1961 and is buried in Ketchum, Idaho.