I feel lucky enough to have the time to read a whole book, but I do not have enough time to write a full review.
As you may know, the authors are the famous primatologists of the 60s and 70s who overturned existing theories and practices of previous primate observers.
Goodall was paleoanthropologist Louis Leakey's first log-term primate observer to begin a study of chimpanzees. Fossey and Biruté followed studying gorillas and orangutans. Strum (not a Leakey protege) studied baboons.
This is what I enjoy, reading perspectives of a time and events by the main participants. Without the simultaneous readings, I would have missed a lot of the references to the underlying politics and personality conflicts. This knowledge added to the pleasure of reading about four women who lived in isolated pieces of wilderness with their particular primates as essentially their only companions.
Biruté and Strum benefited from Goodall's and Fossey's experiences, both refer to them and from that knowledge chose actions and outlooks that helped them avoid actions and attitudes that brought Goodall and Fossey adversity.
What surprised me was all the books covered as much as a thirty-year timespan and that all the authors witnessed dramatic changes in their study group due to the effects of increased human population. Each of the primates' territories faced severe destruction from logging, hunting, and farming. Each observer had to find a way to work with local jurisdictions to find a solution to save the primate's habitat.
While I enjoyed all the books, Strum's went the furtherest. She even briefly mentioned the reentry problems long-term primate observers face when returning to civilization. For every problem she encountered, she sought a rational, logical explanation and solution.
