In addition to publishing specialist academic books, WASP has set up an imprint called Beagle books. Beagles are books of more general interest but still related to the study of the world around us, both past and present. The Beagle name echoes both Charles Darwin's ship and the inquisitive hound: we want Beagles to be voyages of discovery for inquisitive people.

alphabetical listing by title:

The Year of the Ghost: an Olduvai diary

author

Derek Roe

In January 1983 Oxford archaeologist Derek Roe packed his pen and set off for Tanzania. He was going to Olduvai Gorge to act as ghost-writer for the autobiography of Mary Leakey, "grande dame" of African archaeology. His credentials were excellent: as a specialist in Early Stone Age hand-axes he had worked with Mary and her husband Louis; his writing was clear and elegant; and, perhaps most important of all, Mary thought she could get on with him. In this beautifully crafted diary Derek tells the story of the three visits he made that year. He gives us many glimpses of local colour, but also of the woman usually obscured by the double defence of archaeology and Dalmatians. The aftermath, bittersweet, is summed up in an epilogue based around letters from both parties. And, incidentally, this Oxford Professor of Palaeolithic archaeology gives an excellent summary of the archaeology of Olduvai Gorge, accessible to public and professionals alike.

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© Western Academic & Specialist Press Ltd 2004