Fifty years ago Joy Adamson first introduced to the world the story of her life alongside Elsa the lioness, whom she had rescued as an orphaned cub, and raised at her home in Kenya. But as Elsa had been born free, Joy made the heartbreaking decision that she must be returned to the wild when she was old enough to fend for herself. Since the first publication of Born Free and its sequels Living Free and Forever Free, generations of readers have been enchanted, inspired and moved by these books’ uplifting charm and the remarkable interaction between Joy and Elsa. Millions have also come to know and love Born Free through the immortal film starring Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers. But here is the chance to rediscover the original story in this 50th anniversary edition, in the words of the woman who reared Elsa and walked with the lions.

Joy Adamson was a pioneer in the field of conservation. With her husband George, senior game warden in a huge area of the northern frontier province of Kenya, she established one of the world’s first wild animal appeals. Now the Elsa Conservation Trust, it operates an education, training and wildlife retreat centre at the Adamsons’ former home of Elsamere, on the shores of Lake Naivasha.