The Gardens of Mars: Madagascar, an Island Story

by John Gimlette

Overview

A journey – both historical and contemporary – among the fantastical landscapes, resourceful inhabitants and isolated tribes of the world's fourth-largest island of enduring fascination for its rich biodiversity: Madagascar.

'A beautifully written depiction of the history of this beguiling island' Literary Review

'Courageous, exploratory, humane and with a wry sense of humour' Spectator

'A feat of journalism, observation and determination' Dr Alyson Hitch

'Wonderfully witty and wry' Benedict Allen

We think we know Madagascar but it's too big, too eccentric, and too impenetrable to be truly understood. As well as visiting every corner of the island, John Gimlette journeys deep into Madagascar's past. Along the way, he meets politicians, sorcerers, gem prospectors, militiamen, rioters, lepers and the descendants of seventeenth-century pirates. Insightful and wryly humorous, here's an encounter with the people, landscapes, politics and history of one of the most remarkable places on Earth.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781788544733
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	06/01/2022
Pages:	464
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.70(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

John Gimlette is a prize-winning travel writer who has journeyed to more than 60 countries. He is the author of At the Tomb of the Inflatable Pig, Panther Soup: A European Journey in War and Peace, Wild Coast: Travels on South America's Untamed Edge and Elephant Complex: Travels in Sri Lanka. He is a regular contributor of travel features to the Telegraph, Financial Times and Guardian.

Table of Contents

Introduction 3

1 Buckets of Beauty, or Antananarivo 11

2 The Gardens of Mars 41

3 The Happiest People in the World 87

4 The People of the Thorns 113

5 The Anti-world of St Mary's Island 145

6 Royal Tana, and the All-conquering Merina 161

7 A Road Through the Bones 201

8 How to Build a Little France 249

9 The Outer Edges of La Mission Civilisatrice 275

10 The Diego Interlude 297

11 Rising 323

12 The Land of Milk and Buckshot 357

Afterword 383

Selected Reading 386

Acknowledgements 395

Index 399

Editorial Reviews

Few writers have delved into [Madagascar's] history and none as thoroughly and mercilessly as Gimlette... His descriptions of the everyday sights of Madagascar are wonderful... Enjoy the book as an evocation of this extraordinary island, in all its complexity and all its contradictions'” —Literary Review

“A beautifully written depiction of the people and history of this beguiling and perplexing island” —Edward Paice

“Courageous, exploratory, humane and with a wry sense of humour” —Spectator

“Destined to scoop whatever travel book awards are still in existence these days” —The Bay (Swansea)

“The best English-language travel writer out there” —Travel Mag

“A fabulous new book” —Timeless Travels

“John Gimlette's latest thoughtful study sees him explore the relatively recent human history of the world's fourth largest island” —Wanderlust

“This is classic Gimlette – an utter delight. Here is the tale of an enchanted island, one enlivened by its spirited inhabitants and mysterious past. But what makes the book so readable is the author's unfailing eye for the quirky and unexpected. It's a wonderfully witty and wry book, the author's wanderings through Madagascar lit all along the way by his telling eye for detail and accustomed panache” —Benedict Allen

“In this chronicle of the fascinating strangeness of Madagascar [...] incredulity, horror and amusement coalesce in Gimlette's customarily talented narration of the weird” —Irish Times

“Gimlette's 'walk-through history' is a tour de force, taking in slavery, Welsh missionaries, ancestor worship, French conquest, and forts whose ramparts are rendered in millions of egg whites” —Telegraph

“[Gimlette] takes us to the beautiful but extremely weird tropical island where everything – especially its history and fauna – is larger than life” —Andrew Roberts, Engelsberg Ideas

From the Publisher