In 1966, with no experience or formal scientific training, Dian Fossey left the United States and set up a gorilla observation camp in the Virunga mountains of Africa. Sponsored by Dr. Louis Leakey, the 34-year-old Fossey had embarked on a 19-year project that began as a field study of gorillas but expanded into a labor of love and a mission to protect the magnificent species from extinction. No human ever came closer to the mysterious mountain gorillas than Fossey, but as her relationship with the animals grew, her fierce battle against poachers did also. Fossey was murdered in 1985, but her legacy endures. This dramatic story of her vital work is an important record for a new generation of readers.