The Soul Of The Ape

by Eugène N. Marais

Early last century Eugène Marais, journalist, lawyer, poet and natural scientist, travelled to the wild Northern Transvaal and lived for three years at close quarters with a troop of chacma baboons. The Soul of the Ape is the record of his experiences and observations. Lost for forty years, the manuscript was only recently discovered and Robert Ardrey, who dedicated his African Genesis to Marais, believes that it 'presents better than any other book published thus far, the dawning humanity in the psyche of the higher primates.' The Soul of the Ape is both a rare personal document and a pioneering study of the primitive mind.