A nature journalist uses a mix of reportage, natural history, and travelogue to embark on an often hazardous journey to witness the last great apes in their native habitats.

The mountain gorillas : gorillas and guerillas [sic] in the mist -- The wild, wild chimpanzees -- The bonobos : our long-lost cousins -- King Kong at the brink : the Western lowland gorillas -- The Cross River gorillas : rarest of the rare -- The enigmatic orangutans : Borneo's man of the forest -- A call to arms.