Watch the Book Trailer for Sophy Roberts’s Bestselling A Training School for Elephants. ‹ Literary Hub

Literary Hub is pleased to share the book trailer for Sophy Roberts’s A Training School for Elephants, a nonfiction book that tells of cruelty, deception and adventure during the European Scramble for Africa. A Training School for Elephants was an instant Sunday Times bestseller when it was published earlier this year in the UK, and will be published in the US by Atlantic Monthly Press on April 22.

Here’s a description of the book from the publisher, Atlantic Monthly Press:

In 1879, King Leopold II of Belgium launched an ambitious plan to plunder Africa’s resources. The key to cracking open the continent, or so he thought, was its elephants—if only he could train them. And so he commissioned the charismatic Irish adventurer Frederick Carter to ship four tamed Asian elephants from India to the East African coast, where they were marched inland towards Congo. The ultimate aim was to establish a training school for African elephants.

Following in the footsteps of the four elephants, Roberts pieces together the story of this long-forgotten expedition, in travels that take her to Belgium, Iraq, India, Tanzania, and Congo. The storytelling brings to life a compelling cast of historic characters and modern voices, from ivory dealers to Catholic nuns, set against rich descriptions of the landscapes travelled. In an original weave of past and present, she digs deep into historic records revealing an extraordinary—and enduring—story of colonial greed, hypocrisy, and folly.

And here’s the trailer:

You can preorder the book here.