The Roots of Heaven (French: Les Racines du ciel) is a 1956 novel by the Lithuanian-born French writer and World War II aviator, Romain Gary (born Roman Kacew).

[1] The book takes place in French Equatorial Africa.

Morel, a crusading environmentalist, labors to preserve elephants from extinction.

He is assisted in the task by Minna, a nightclub hostess, and Forsythe, a disgraced British military officer in search of redemption.

John Huston directed and Darryl Zanuck produced a 1958 Hollywood film of the same title.