"My fight to save Africa's natural treasures'. 
This is the eloquent subtitle of an autobiography co-written with journalist Virginia Morell.
The life of the founder of the Kenya Wildlife Service and Kenya's staunchest defender of wild animals. 
Richard Leakey, born in Kenya of British parents, was director of the Natural History Museum in Nairobi and, together with his wife, was involved in the discovery of Lucy, the oldest hominid on Earth.
But his great love of nature and his friendship with the then President of Kenya, Daniel Arap Moi, led him to found the government institution that is still called upon to protect the country's wonderful wild heritage, one of the world's attractions that make Kenya unique not only in Africa.
Leakey divided the boundless savannah into national parks and reserves, provided the KWS with its own resources and for a time made it a veritable army in his employ, trained in the fight against poaching and smuggling, to the point of frightening the upper echelons of Kenyan politics, traders and tribal leaders.
Between plots, attempted murders and glorious and unforgettable moments, this book is the story of a struggle, of a life, of a love, driven by a rare intelligence and an indomitable willpower.