****The Ghost and the Darkness. I had read the book years before,***
THE MANEATERS OF TSALVO. I read it many times. the movie is very much like the book except for the addition of the Michael Douglas character, and the lions were maneless males.
This part takes up just several chapters in the book, the rest is mostly about building the railroad, and hunting.
That should read Tsavo. And you got my point exactly... the addition of the Michael Douglas character. Imagine Gunfight at the OK Corral with all of the historical figures, plus Paul Bunyan or some other totally fictional character tossed in for no apparent reason. The real events happened without him, why is he needed in the movie?