Beryl Markham, who died in August 1986, was a dramatic and passionate personality whose playmates as a child were African tribesmen and hunters. Her fame as a pioneer flyer, bush pilot and leading racehorse trainer was only exceeded by her beauty and controversial character.

   She was as flamboyant and direct in her private life as in her brilliant professional career and numbered among her many lovers Prince Henry (later Duke of Gloucester), Denys Finch Hatton, and Bror Blixen.

   Feted after becoming the first person to fly from England to America she wrote her superb memoir West with the Night. But her own book reveals nothing of her tempestuous personal life and these gaps have now been filled by this authorised biography. Drawing on Mary Lovell's personal association with Beryl and her family, access to Beryl's personal papers and interviews with Beryl's many friends and associates around the world, the full story of Beryl's astonishing adventures ranging across three continents is revealed for the first time.

   Illustrated with superb photographs, many from Beryl Markham's own collection, this book was acclaimed one of the most readable and fascinating biographies of the year. It jumped into the British best-seller lists within days of publication, spent 12 weeks on the New York Times charts, and was on best seller lists around the world for months.