Among the Great Apes: Adventures on the Trail of Our Closest Relatives

“A fantastic book. . . . Anyone who cares about animals will benefit hugely from reading it.” —Shaun Ellis, star of Animal Planet's "Living with the Wolfman" and author of The Man Who Lives with Wolves

Award winning adventure journalist Paul Raffaele’s Among the Great Apes is the first book in over a decade—and possibly the last ever—to take its readers into the lives of our charismatic cousins the great apes in their native habitats. Raffaele, a feature writer for Smithsonian magazine, has been called “nothing less than a one-of-a-kind world treasure” by renowned author Alvin Toffler.

Paul Raffaele, whom the Washington Post calls the "last of the great, old-fashioned adventure writers," is on a journey to meet the last great apes living in the wild.

The great apes—bonobos, chimpanzees, orangutans, and gorillas—live in some of the most volatile regions on our planet, lands plagued by civil unrest, poverty, environmental degradation, and corrupt governments. In Among the Great Apes, acclaimed nature journalist Paul Raffaele goes into the wild to see how our closest relatives are faring today. He takes us through isolated jungles and misty mountain forests, sharing wonderfully intimate observations of ape life paired with the most current research about their behavior.

Raffaele introduces us to leading conservationists and researchers working to save and study the apes. But best of all, he gets up close to these amazing animals. As Raffaele moves from Borneo to the Congo, Rwanda, Cameroon, and Uganda in Among the Great Apes, he brings us to the natural habitats of all the species and subspecies of the great apes—a trip possible for perhaps the last time.

“[A] modern, non-fiction version of Conan Doyle’s The Lost World: a time-warp glimpse into man’s most primordial nightmare; exciting, fantastic, horrific—and a very well-written travel narrative.” - Peter Nichols, author of A VOYAGE FOR MADMEN

“Swashbuckling. . . . A dark thrill ride to the extremes of behavior . . . reaches beyond adventure anthropology and achieves a tone of urgent humanity.” - Kirkus Reviews

Praise for AMONG THE CANNIBALS: “Simply fascinating. . . . Raffaele’s book is worth devouring.” - Lisa Ko, author of The Leavers

“This is a profound and important book. At a time when most great ape populations are in steep decline, Raffaele shows us how amazingly interesting and complex great apes are, and outlines our urgent need to protect them and save them from extinction.” - David Greer, Coordinator for World Wildlife Fund's African Great Apes Program

“Paul Raffaele may be the last person to visit all the great apes in the wild. His intimate account of these splendid animals should serve as a wake up call that they will disappear forever should we chose to ignore the problems that plague their survival. If you care about the great apes, you must read this book.” - Emmanuel de Merode, Chief Warden, Virunga National Park, Congolese Wildlife Authority (ICCN)

“A fantastic book that’s also a really emotional ride. Anyone who cares about animals will benefit hugely from reading it.” —Shaun Ellis, star of Animal Planet’s Living With the Wolfman and author of The Man Who Lives With Wolves - Shaun Ellis, star of Animal Planet's LIVING WITH THE WOLFMAN and author of THE MAN WHO LIVES WITH WOLVES.