John Richard Thornhill Pollard (5 April 1914 – 25 August 2013) was a British writer who wrote a number of books on classic history and his travels in Africa.

[2] During WWII he served as an officer with the Devonshire Regiment and the King's African Rifles in Italian Somaliland, Abyssinia, Kenya and Uganda.

[3] He travelled extensively throughout the whole African continent and throughout Europe, with a keen interest in mountaineering, natural history, angling and sport of every description.

Recounting Hook's search for the Spotted Lion, running an African zoo, milking deadly puff adders, surviving two World Wars, and racing cheetahs against Greyhounds.

Pollard's fourth and final book set in Africa, he recounts his ambitious 2,000 mile safari from Mwingi, Kenya through the wilderness to reach Eritrea on the Red Sea.