Synopsis

Assegai is Wilbur Smith's thirty-second novel, it follows The Triumph of the Sun in which the author brought the Courtney and Ballantyne series together. Assegai tells the story of Leon Courtney and is set in 1906 in Kenya. The events in the story are linked to and precede the outbreak of World War One.

It is 1913 and ex-soldier turned professional big game hunter, Leon Courtney, is in British East Africa guiding rich and powerful men from America and Europe on safaris in the Masai tribe territories.

One of his clients, German industrialist Count Otto Von Meerbach, has a company which builds aircraft and vehicles for the Kaiser’s burgeoning army. But Leon had not bargained for falling passionately in love with Eva, the Count’s beautiful and enigmatic mistress.

Just prior to the outbreak of World War I, Leon is recruited by his uncle, Penrod Ballantyne, Commander of the British Forces in East Africa, to gather information from Von Meerbach.

He stumbles on a plot against the British involving the disenchanted survivors of the Boer War, but it is only when Eva and Von Meerbach return to Africa that Leon finds out who and what is really behind the conspiracy.

Details

• Format : Standard 2nd Hand Hardback with Dust Jacket
• Condition : Very Good
• Category : Fiction - Action, Adventure & Western
• Published : 2009 (Pan Macmillan)
• ISBN : 9780312567248
• SKU : B000122
• PPC : SP600gm
• RRP : £16.99
• Quantity Available : 1 only.

External Reviews

"Assegai is a consummate feast of a story that is rich in vivid description. The author takes the reader into British East Africa of a 100 years ago. The wildlife, the people, and landscapes all come to life as we follow Leon Courtney's adventures leading up to World War I."

"Wilbur Smith has once again presented a masterpiece of drama with magnificent descriptions of the splendour of African scenery juxtaposed with the German and Boer war plans against the British and the spies within. The Masai customs and rituals added extra colour to this story as did their support of Leon Courtney, the main character and his love, Eva." - Goodreads Reviews.

The Author

Wilbur Addison Smith (born 9 January 1933) is a South African (Zambian-born) novelist specialising in historical fiction about the international involvement in Southern Africa across four centuries, seen from the viewpoints of both black and white families.

Featured Author . . . Wilbur Smith