Ryder had no doubt a war was coming, and he knew the character of the men the British would be fighting . . .

South Africa, 1899 - the smouldering hostility between the Boers and the British colonies is about to burst into flame. Colonel Penrod Ballantyne - hero of Abu Klea and Omdurman - is sent to Mafeking to prepare for the coming storm. His wife Amber accompanies him, but when war is declared Amber must flee with their baby son and pray for her husband's survival - against impossible odds.

Eight hundred miles away, in Cape Town, Ryder Courtney is using his wealth to bankroll the British war effort. When his son Leon stows away on a train to the front line, determined to join his uncle Penrod in changing the course of history, Ryder and his wife Saffron have no choice but to leave the safety of the Cape Colony and follow. Leon is convinced that his parents are without honour, that only his uncle understands him - he is about to discover just how wrong he can be.

BOOK 24 IN THE LONG-RUNNING EPIC HISTORICAL SAGA OF THE COURTNEY FAMILY FROM WILBUR SMITH IN WHICH THE COURTNEYS AND THE BALLANTYNES COME TOGETHER ONCE AGAIN IN THE SEQUEL TO WORLDWIDE BESTSELLERS THE TRIUMPH OF THE SUN AND KING OF KINGS.

Praise for Wilbur Smith

'A master storyteller' Sunday Times

'No one does adventure quite like Smith' Daily Mirror

'Best historical novelist' Stephen King