I was highly anticipating the release of this book, as it covers the early career of Attenborough and the programs which changes the world of nature documentaries. However, I was disappointed, I think this is due to the book being based on Attenborough's original accounts of what occurred on his Zoo Quest travels, but attitudes towards animals and indigenous people have changed dramatically since then.
It was interesting to read his fascinating accounts of rare and exotic animals, often this is quite funny as these animals are now very familiar. A lovely part of this book is the passion and energy of Attenborough in seeking out these animals, and it was fascinating to understand how much harder it was to get to these isolated locations on the planet, such as his fraught journey to Komodo, which is now very accessible to tourists.
I did feel uncomfortable with how the animals were stored in little cages for long periods of time, but you can tell they do care about the animals wellbeing, and did choose to release animals they could not look after.
Overall, it was an interesting book, and wonderful to understand early nature documentaries, but it is a product from the time and so can be a little uncomfortable to modern readers. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in historical nature and conservation, or fans of Attenborough's work.
