In this biography of Colonel John Henry Patterson, Denis Brian reveals his subject to be a composite of diverse identities. An Irish-born soldier,lion hunter, bridge builder, East African game warden, author, man-about-town, and Zionist, Patterson led a fascinating life.

Brian begins the narrative with Patterson's assignment in East Africa, where lion attacks were terrorising workers on a railroad project. He vividly describes Patterson quelling the consequent rebellion and killing the lions himself.

The colonel's indomitable energy and courage become a consistent theme in the book as the author traces Patterson's life from his days as a British socialite to his command of the Jewish Legion of volunteers who helped drive the Turks out of Palestine.

Patterson spent most of his later years as an ardent Zionist, working for the creation of a Jewish homeland until his death in 1947 a year before the birth of the state of Israel. An incisive portrait of a key figure of Israel and colonial British history.