No Picnic on Mount Kenya

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No Picnic on Mount Kenya
Cover of 1999 edition
Author Felice Benuzzi
Original title No Picnic on Mount Kenya: The Story of Three P.O.W.s' Escape to Adventure,
Language English
Genre(s) Narrative history
Publisher 1999 edition: The Lyons Press
Publication date 1946
Media type Hardback and Paperback
Pages 239
ISBN 1 59228 724 7
This image of Mount Kenya on an Oxo tin inspired the adventure that the book describes.
This image of Mount Kenya on an Oxo tin inspired the adventure that the book describes.[1]

No Picnic on Mount Kenya: The Story of Three P.O.W.s' Escape to Adventure, by Felice Benuzzi recounts the attempt of three Italian prisoners of war during the Second World War to reach the top of Mount Kenya.[1] It was first published in 1946 with at least 18 subsequent English editions.[2][3] The 1994 film The Ascent is based on this book and there is currently an Itlalian film Fuga sul Kenya in production.[4][5]

Contents

[edit] Plot summary

Detained at P.O.W. Camp 354 near Nanyuki, Kenya, Benuzzi, together with Dr. Giovanni Balletto and Enzo Barsotti, escaped in January 1943. After an unsuccessful 18 day assault on the mountain, and to the astonishment of the British commander, the three adventures escaped back into Camp 354. As reward for their adventure, they each received 28 days in solitary confinement.

From the flyleaf of the 1952 William Kimber edition of the book: "One of the most unusual adventures of the war years has now been written by the man who led it, and who has the ability to tell his story with the accuracy and vividness that compels the readers to live through it with him. Felice Benuzzi was a P.O.W. in a British Camp facing Mount Kenya (5,199 m - 17,058 ft). The depressing tedium of camp life and the fascination of the mountain combined to inspire him with a plan. He first put the prospect of escaping to climb it to a fellow prisoner who was a professional mountaineer. The expert told him that the idea was mad, that they would need six months' training on first-class food and porters to carry equipment to a base camp. But Benuzzi was not to be put off. Eventually he got two others to conspire with him, a doctor and a sailor. Surreptitiously they improvised scant equipment and saved what food they could from rations. Their only 'map' of the mountain was a sketch of it on the label of an Oxo tin.

"And then they escaped, and went to climb the mountain. The sailor was ill immediately after breakout but decided to carry on. The lower reaches of Kenya are jungle and forest infested with big game. They were unarmed, and their encounters with the animals are some of the most exciting passages in the story. But Benuzzi writes with a simplicity and vigour that take you with him every yard of the way. At the foot of the highest peak the sailor was too ill to go further, and Benuzzi and the doctor wend forward to the climax of their adventure. Their way back, was as hazardous as the ascent, and the tension never relaxes until they at last break back into the P.O.W. camp from which they had escaped and give themselves up to the British Commandant."

[edit] Editions

No Picnic on Mount Kenya was published in 1946 by William Kimber and CO., Limited, London with the subtitle The Story of Three P.O.W.s' Escape to Adventure.[6][2] In total there have been at least 18 English editions of this book, some of which were published without a subtitle.[3] The subtitle used by the latest edition published by The Lyon Press is A Daring Escape, a Perilous Climb.[1]

The book was initially written in English despite Benuzzi being Italian. Later it was translated in 1948 into Italian under the name Fuga sul Kenya.[2] The Italian translation was subsequently translated back into English again.[citation needed] In 1953 No Picnic on Mount Kenya was translated into German under the title Gefangen vom Mount Kenia : gefährliche Flucht in ein Bergsteigerabenteuer.[7] In 2002 a new German edition was released with the new title Flucht ins Abenteuer : 3 Kriegsgefangene besteigen den Mount Kenya.[7]

[edit] Adaptations

In 1953 an episode of Robert Montgomery Presents was based on an adaptation of this book starring George Chandler.[8] A film adaptation The Ascent was made in 1994. The screenplay was written by David Wiltse and the filming directed by Donald Shebib.[4] There is an Italian film adpatation Fuga sul Kenya currently in production. It is being directed by Gabriele Iacovone and the screenplay has been written by Francesco Casardi.[5]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Benuzzi, Felice (2005). No Picnic on Mount Kenya: A Daring Escape, a Perilous Climb. The Lyons Press. ISBN 1-59228-724-7. 
  2. ^ a b c Fuga sul Kenya (Italian). Archived from the original on 2007-01-15. Retrieved on 2008-03-03.
  3. ^ a b WorldCat. No Picnic on Mount Kenya. Retrieved on 2008-03-03.
  4. ^ a b Internet Movie Database. The Ascent (1994). Retrieved on 2008-03-03.
  5. ^ a b Internet Movie Database. Fuga sul Kenya (2008). Retrieved on 2008-03-03.
  6. ^ Benuzzi, Felice (1952). No Picnic on Mount Kenya: The Story of Three P.O.W.s' Escape to Adventure. London: William Kimber and CO., Limited. 
  7. ^ a b WorldCat. Flucht ins Abenteuer : 3 Kriegsgefangene besteigen den Mount Kenya. Retrieved on 2008-03-03.
  8. ^ Internet Movie Database. "Robert Montgomery Presents" No Picnic at Mt. Kenya (1953). Retrieved on 2008-03-02.