Combining rich characters, apex predators, impossible engineering challenge, terror and the awe-inspiring richness of east Africa as a setting, the building of the Nairobi railway is a narrative goldmine.

At a time when people are rediscovering the power of already familiar stories like Operation Mincemeat (or The Man Who Never Was …) there’s every reason to take bring the Man Eaters of Tsavo to life again for a new generation of readers.

It’s a story that’s got it all–and, in the hands of one of our best writers on Africa, we have a winning combination