Roof Of Africa By John Warburton-Lee
Roof Of Africa
A Gripping Chronicle of an Old-Fashioned Trans-African Military Adventure and Wilderness Expedition
A Gripping Chronicle of an Old-Fashioned Trans-African Military Adventure and Wilderness Expedition
Bibliographic Specifications
- Title: Roof Of Africa
- Author & Photographer: John Warburton-Lee
- Publisher: Swan Hill Press, Shrewsbury (An Imprint of Airlife Publishing Ltd)
- Publication Date: 1992 (First Edition)
- ISBN-13: 9781853103308 (ISBN-10: 1853103306)
- Edition Details: First Edition, First Printing. Features a historic official foreword by H.R.H. The Prince of Wales (King Charles III). Inscribed on the first page.
- Binding: Original publisher's premium maroon bookcloth boards with elegant gold/gilt-stamped typography to the spine; complete with original printed paper dust jacket.
- Physical Format: Quarto (4to), 196 pages. Richly enhanced with an independent 32-page central gallery section of vivid full-colour photographic plates captured in the field, alongside detailed expedition tracking maps.
- Language: English
Official Condition Report
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The Book: Near Fine (NF) / Mint
- Exterior / Boards: The original maroon cloth boards are in exceptional, pristine condition—flat, structurally rigid, and completely square. The gold gilt lettering along the spine remains perfectly bright and untarnished, while the corners are razor-sharp and free of edge storage friction.
- Interior: The text block is robustly bound, tight, and completely fresh. Internal text pages, route maps, and glossy color photography sections are entirely clean, bright white, and free of reader highlighting, dog-ears, or thumb marks.
- Provenance: Features a contemporary handwritten presentation gift inscription executed on the preliminary first page, remaining isolated from the primary text blocks and preserving the overall layout.
- Protection: Kept pristine and safely enclosed within a custom archival-grade protective cellophane overwrap.
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The Dust Jacket: Near Fine (NF)
- Condition: Bright, complete, and unclipped. Displays only very limited, superficial signs of minor handling and trace storage friction at the edge extremities, entirely consistent with careful collection preservation. Free of deep tears, heavy chipping, or sun-fading.
Synopsis & Historical Value
Published by Swan Hill Press in 1992, Roof Of Africa is the thrilling, meticulously documented account of the Welsh Guards' monumental journey across the African continent. Formulated by expedition leader John Warburton-Lee while recovering in hospital from a broken back, the trek was envisioned as a true adventure in the old-fashioned sense. The mission took a group composed primarily of raw, novice expeditioners—some of whom had never left Great Britain before—and placed them in a challenging, highly demanding, and hazardous foreign environment.
Adhering to a guiding principle to completely avoid major centers of civilization, the expedition covered an astonishing 40,000 miles of extreme terrain under brutal wilderness conditions. Warburton-Lee tracks the team as they traverse unforgiving deserts, climb some of the most hazardous mountain ranges on the continent, whitewater raft down the crocodile-infested Zambezi River, and cut their way through the dense jungles of Zaire. Concurrently serving to raise vital support for the Weston Spirit charity (founded by Falklands combat survivor and ex-Welsh Guardsman Simon Weston), this volume stands as a gripping modern military adventure epic and an essential addition for collectors of overland expedition travelogues and military Africana history.
Author Profile: John Warburton-Lee
John Warburton-Lee is a veteran British military officer, accomplished expedition leader, and highly regarded documentary photographer. Following his service with the Welsh Guards, his passion for wilderness mapping and humanitarian exploration led him to organize and pilot complex overland treks through uncharted corners of Africa, the Arctic, and remote mountain corridors. His professional visual archive and literary travel logs are celebrated for bridging intense tactical grit with a profound respect for the native environments and remote cultures he encounters.
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