I learned to look at the world through the eyes and ears of elephants. Some people, other elephant people, have told me that I think I am an elephant. In some ways, perhaps they are right. Like Africa, the elephants take hold of your spirits. They can possess you and persuades you to look at the world in a different light. There is something so grand about the life of an elephant, its great size, strength, and age.Elephants have so many of the qualities we like best about ourselves, dignity, loyalty to families and friends, compassion, and a sense of humor.

Biologist Joyce Poole has taken a journey, without maps, into the heart of the African elephant. She came to know elephant like family. She discovered biological forces no one had ever suspected, and elephant voices no human had ever heard. For years, Joyce fought for their survival, never imagining that one day she would face a terrible choice. Joyce Poole would have to give the order to kill elephants. This is the story of a woman who loved elephants in a world that had no room for them. Looking back at how it all began, it seems as if Africa has always been my home. Joyce Poole's family came to Kenya in the 1960s when her father worked for the Peace Corps.