| The Roots of Heaven | |
| Author: | Romain Gary |
| Title Orig: | Les Racines du ciel |
| Translator: | Jonathan Griffin |
| Country: | France |
| Language: | French |
| Publisher: | Éditions Gallimard |
| Pub Date: | 5 October 1956 |
| English Pub Date: | 1958 |
| Pages: | 510 |
| Set In: | French Equatorial Africa, 1955 |
| Dewey: | 843.9 |
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). It received the Prix Goncourt for fiction. It was translated into English in 1957.[1]
The book takes place in French Equatorial Africa. Morrel, 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. The story is a metaphor for the quest for salvation for all humanity.
John Huston directed and Darryl Zanuck produced a 1958 Hollywood film of the same title.