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Books on Madagascar
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Madagascar, 7th: The Bradt Travel Guide
by Hilary Bradt
Amazon.com: This seventh edition of Hilary Bradt's award-winning guide reflects the changes in tourist infrastructure that have made Madagascar increasingly accessible. Hugely authoritative and brimming with character, it is the ideal companion both for independent visitors and those on organized tours. Look inside for: itineraries for all budgets and interests; detailed natural history; national parks and reserves; fully revised information on hotels, restaurants and transport; 47 updated maps and town plans; numerous contributions from experts. (5 1/4 x 8 1/2, 432 pages, color photos, illustrations, maps, charts)
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Madagascar Wildlife, 2nd: A Visitor's Guide
by Nick Garbutt, Hilary Bradt, Derek Schuurman
Amazon.com: Madagascar Wildlife is a celebration of the unique fauna of this remarkable island. Written by tour leaders for visitors and natural history enthusiasts alike, it features lively descriptions of the animals and their behavior, alongside concise information on where best to see them. As a practical guide, it is readable and user-friendly; as a souvenir it's unbeatable.
Highlighted are over 200 color photographs, many new to this edition; 250 species, including new scientific discoveries; national parks and reserves brought right up to date; information on ecology and conservation; and photographic tips
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Birds of Madagascar: A Photographic Guide
by Pete Morris, Frank Hawkins, Peter Morris
Amazon.com: This beautiful book is a photographic guide to the birds of Madagascar--260 species, including 108 that are endemic to the island. The book details the plumages, vocalizations, habitat and behavior, range, status, and habitat zones of each species. "Where to watch" advice and a gazetteer to birdwatching locations provide invaluable information for visitors planning to see the avifauna of Malagasy.
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Lonely Planet Madagascar (Lonely Planet Madagascar)
by May Fitzpatrick, Paul Greenway
Amazon.com: Experience Malagasy magic with us. Spot lemurs in lush rainforest, dance the salegy with locals or explore remote highland villages. Though only a short sail from the mainland, Madagascar is a truly unique African destination.
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Madagascar, 8th: The Bradt Travel Guide
by Hilary Bradt
Amazon.com: This award-winning guide, now in its eighth edition, proves to be an informative, amusing and sensitive account of a truly enchanting destination. It covers every aspect of this captivating country, from the unique fauna and flora inhabiting eastern rain forests, to the pristine beaches bordering the west. Come face to face with Madagascan wildlife at one of its many nature reserves, including the island's world-famous chameleons, lemurs, sifakas, turtles, and snakes. Water enthusiasts should look out for humpbacked whales in the summer or dive the diverse coral reefs. In recent years Madagascar has become increasingly accessible, attracting new and accustomed visitors to the country, who will value this hugely authoritative travel companion.
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Lonely Planet Madagascar & Comoros (Lonely Planet Madagascar)
by Gemma Pitcher, Patricia C. Wright
Idyllic beaches, rain forests and parched deserts, lemurs and chameleons, the woodcarvers of Zafimaniry villages, the relaxed tropical ambience of Anjouan, the bustling flower market of Antananarivo, pirogues cruising the Tsiribihina River - Madagascar and the Comoros boast attractions as diverse as they are appealing. This guide is your essential companion - the only one to cover both destinations.
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Malagasy-English/English-Malagasy: Dictionary and Phrasebook (Hippocrene Dictionary & Phrasebook)
by Janie Rasoloson
Amazon.com: Malagasy, the national language of Madagascar, has over 10 million speakers. This dictionary and phrasebook provides the traveller to this beautiful island with the means for basic communication, as well as an introduction to the country's culture. The compact guide includes a two-way bilingual dictionary with over 2,000 entries and a phrasebook containing all of the essential topics, from introductions and common phrases to accommodations, food and drink, weather and health, among many others.
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Lords and Lemurs : Mad Scientists, Kings With Spears, and the Survival of Diversity in Madagascar
by Alison Jolly
Amazon.com: In southern Madagascar is a place called Berenty, where Tandroy tribesmen, French lords, mad scientists, and two or three species of lemurs may be found gathered peacefully under a single tamarind tree. The owner of Berenty, Jean de Heaulme, arrived there in 1928 as a six-month-old baby, in the sidecar of his father"s Harley-Davidson. He and his family lived through war and revolution, Madagascar"s independence (which they supported) and imprisonment. Through it all they devoted themselves to preserving the natural diversity of Berenty and to helping the Tandroy maintain their culture.
The Tandroy originally lived by cattle-raiding, clan warfare, and slavery. Now, although they have given up slavery and many of them work on plantations, they still live in traditional villages surrounded by walls of thorns. They have kept their cult of cattle and other customs, including their exuberant funerals, with gunfire, dancing, sex, and sacrifices to the Ancestor.
Forty years ago scientist Alison Jolly was the first outsider to attend a Tandroy funeral. She went to Berenty to study lemurs and has been enthralled by the place ever since. In Lords and Lemurs she tells the story of Berenty, its people, and its other animals. Poignant and colorful, tragic and funny, it is a remarkable tale of one of the last great places on earth
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The Eighth Continent: Life, Death, and Discovery in the Lost World of Madagascar
by Peter Tyson
Amazon.com: Lying some 250 miles off the east coast of Africa, Madagascar is the world's fourth-largest island. It is quite unlike the neighboring continent, and, for that matter, quite unlike any other landmass on the planet. Its plant life is almost wholly endemic: eight out of 10 plants there grow naturally only on Madagascar, and it has an entire ecosystem, the spiny desert, that is found nowhere else on earth. Many of its animal species, too, seem to have emerged from some evolutionary track that runs parallel to the rest of the world's; here can be found lemurs that will fit into a human palm, dwarf hippos, giant chameleons, and other rarities.
These plants and animals constitute an extraordinary diversity, writes science journalist Peter Tyson in this engaging book, and the island's richness of life has long intrigued scientists, who have proposed several theories to explain it. Those scientists, some of whom Tyson profiles at work in the field, are racing against time to catalog island life before it disappears, for Madagascar's human population is rapidly growing, and with that growth, the island's forests and other habitats are falling. The urgency may abate, Tyson writes, with guarded optimism, now that the island's current president has proposed that all of Madagascar be considered as a United Nations World Heritage Site, which would help provide funds to prevent further loss of habitat and diversity. Though this proposal is controversial, Tyson makes a good case for why it should be taken up--and he shows just how high the stakes are.
Throughout his narrative, Tyson mixes scientific reportage with a nicely rendered travelogue that guides readers across the island while outlining key concepts of island biogeography and conservation biology. His book is a worthy companion to David Quammen's Song of the Dodo, and valuable reading for anyone concerned with the world environment. --Gregory McNamee --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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The Aye-Aye and I : A Rescue Journey to Save One of the World's Most Intriguing Creatures from Extinction
by Gerald Durrell
Amazon.com: Here is the riveting tale of Gerald Durrell's adventures and misadventures in the enchanted forests of Madagascar, in search of the elusive Aye-aye.
Once thought to be extinct, the Aye-aye, the beast with the magic finger, still lurks, though in fast dwindling numbers, in the forests of Madagascar. Durrell's mission to help save this strange creature turns into a madcap journey in which you will meet not only the enigmatic Aye-aye, but the catlike Fosa, the Flat-tailed tortoise, the Gentle lemurs of Lac Alaotra, and the Malagasy chameleons, among others. Truly nothing escapes Durrell's sharp eye, whether he is describing the great zoma (market), the village dances, the treacherous bridges and river crossings, the strange foods and stranger music, or the vagaries of local officialdom.
As the San Francisco Chronicle noted, "It is impossible for Gerald Durrell to write anything that is less than exuberant, eccentric, and amusing." And in his account of this "rescue mission", Durrell is, quite simply, at his superb best.
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Shadows in the Dawn: The Lemurs of Madagascar
by Kathryn Lasky, Christopher G. Knight
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Madagascar: A world out of time
by Frans Lanting
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A History of Madagascar
by Mervyn Brown
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The Natural History of Madagascar
by Steven M. Goodman (Editor), Jonathan P. Benstead (Editor)
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