Book 1

When the Lion Feeds

by Wilbur Smith

Published March 1981

When the Lion Feeds is the first novel by bestselling author Wilbur Smith and the first book in his successful series about the Courtney family.


'Francois, how many men up at the face?'

'Cave-in.' Francois's voice was now hysterically shrill. 'Cave-in.' He broke Sean's grip and raced away towards the lift station, the mud flying from his gumboots. His terror infected Sean and he ran a dozen paces after Francois before he stopped himself. For precious seconds he wavered with fear slithering round like a reptile in his stomach; go back to call the others and perhaps die with them or follow Francois and live.'

Into the wilds of Natal in the 1870s are born Sean and Garrick Courtney, the twin brothers who could not be more different. Fate, war and the jealous schemes of a woman are to drive them even further apart. But as history unfolds a continent is awakening. And on its horizon is the promise of fortune, adventure, destiny and love. . .


Book 1

Birds of Prey

by Wilbur Smith

Published 1 January 1997
It is 1667 and the mighty naval war between the Dutch and the English still rages. Sir Francis Courtney and his son Hal, in their fighting caravel, are on patrol off Southern Africa, lying in wait for a galleon of the Dutch East India Company returning from the Orient laden with spices, timber and gold...

Book 2

The Sound of Thunder

by Wilbur Smith

Published February 1982

'Only once in his life had Sean met a man whose stength matched his own - and now again they were pitted against each other. He drove the heel of his right hand up under Jan Paulus's chin, forcing his head back against the encircling left arm. It should have broken Jan Paulus's neck. Instead he locked his arms around Sean's chest below the level of his armpits - and squeezed. Within seconds Sean felt his face swelling and congesting with blood, his mouth opened and his tongue came out between his teeth.'

The Sound of Thunder by Wilbur Smith is a vibrant tale of war, and of love and hatred in many forms: between brothers, between friends, between father and son, and between man and woman. Striding through its pages is the commanding figure of Sean Courtney, as he develops from the headstrong adventurer of When the Lion Feeds into a seasoned soldier and leader of men. The second novel in The Courtneys sequence, The Sound of Thunder is a powerful story of family tragedy set against the backdrop of the ravages of the Second Boer War.


Book 3

A Sparrow Falls

by Wilbur Smith

Published 30 May 1977
From the bloody trenches of northern France, Gen. Sean Courtney returns to South Africa and a new life of fame, fortune and a seat in the government. But for Mark Anders, the young South African whom he has come to regard as his son, the return home is an empty and painful experience--with his grandfather murdered and his property seized, he has lost everything. Available in November.

Book 3

Rage

by Wilbur Smith

Published 30 April 1987
There are heroes and there are monsters. But most of us are ordinary mortals caught up in events too turbulent for any of us. Perhaps when the battle is over, all we will inherit are the ashes of a once beautiful land. It is 1952. Guided by the ruthless hands of Shasa Courtney and Centaine Malcomess, the Courtney family empire has come to dominate the lives of white and black South African alike. But the winds of change are fanning fires of revolution. In his deadly quest for power, Shasa will be tested far beyond the battle of the boardroom, forced to betray his ideals for a misguided dream of national unity. Rage is Wilbur Smith's impassioned account of post-war South Africa. It is also the work of a master storyteller at the zenith of his powers: an unforgettable blend of passion, power, history and intrigue. 'The pace would do credit to a Porsche, and the invention is as bright and explosive as a firework display' Sunday Telegraph

Book 7

A Time to Die

by Wilbur Smith

Published 30 May 1989
For Sean Courtney, veteran guerrilla fighter and professional warrior, it is a time to fight and a time to find a deep and passionate love. For the beautiful Claudia Monterro it is a time to face the ultimate test in a world where American values count for nothing. And for Ricardo, her father, a rich and ruthless tycoon, it is a time to confront a dangerous obsession.

Book 10

Monsoon

by Wilbur Smith

Published 1 January 1999
It is the dawn of the eighteenth century. At the farthest edges of the known world, the East India Company suffers near-catastrophic losses from pirates on the high seas. After four years away from service, master mariner Sir Henry Courtney prepares for his latest and most dangerous voyage--a death or glory mission in the name of the Empire and the crown. But Hal must also think about the fate of his four sons--each will have a crucial part to play in shaping Courtney's destiny.

Book 11

Blue Horizon

by Wilbur Smith

Published 24 February 2003

At the close of Wilbur Smith's bestselling Monsoon, Tom Courtney and his brother Dorian battled on the high seas and finally reached the Cape of Good Hope to start life afresh. In this spellbinding new novel, the next generation of Courtneys are out to stake their claim in Southern Africa, travelling along the infamous 'Robber's Road'. It is a journey both exciting and hazardous, that takes them through the untouched wilderness of a beautiful land filled with warring tribes and wild animals.

At heart a story of love and hatred, vengeance and greed, Blue Horizon is an utterly compelling adventure from one of the world's most celebrated novelists.

'Wilbur Smith is one of those benchmarks against whom others are compared' - The Times

'A masterstory teller' - Sunday Times


Book 13

Assegai

by Wilbur Smith

Published 3 April 2009

1913. 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, owns a company which builds aircraft and vehicles for the Kaiser's burgeoning army.

Leon is recruited by his uncle, Penrod Ballantyne, commander of the British forces in East Africa, to gather information from von Meerbach. But he had not bargained on falling passionately in love with Eva, the count's beautiful and enigmatic mistress.

Then Leon stumbles on a plot by von Meerbach to raise a rebellion against the British amongst the disenchanted survivors of the Boer War, and he alone is able find out who and what is really behind the conspiracy . . .

Assegai is the enthralling last novel in the Courtneys of Africa series by bestselling sensation, Wilbur Smith.

'Smith writes with passion and close observation about the sights and sounds of Africa' Daily Express


Book 17

Courtney's War

by Wilbur Smith

Published 6 September 2018
The brand new Courtney Series novel, and the much-anticipated sequel to the global bestseller WAR CRY

Torn apart by war, Saffron Courtney and Gerhard von Meerbach are thousands of miles apart, both struggling for their lives.

Gerhard - despite his objections to the Nazi regime - is fighting for the Fatherland, hoping to one day have the opportunity to rid Germany of Hitler and his cronies. But as his unit is thrown into the hellish attrition of the Battle of Stalingrad, he knows his chances of survival are dwindling by the day.

Meanwhile Saffron - recruited by the Special Operations Executive and sent to occupied Belgium to discover how the Nazis have infiltrated SOE's network - soon finds herself being hunted by Germany's most ruthless spymaster.

Confronted by evil beyond their worst imaginings, the lovers must each make the hardest choice of all: sacrifice themselves, or do whatever they can to survive, hoping that one day they will be reunited.

Courtney's War is an epic story of courage, betrayal and undying love that takes the reader to the very heart of a world at war.

Book 18

Ghost Fire

by Wilbur Smith

Published 3 September 2019
In this brand new Courtney Series novel by bestselling author, Wilbur Smith, comes an epic story of tragedy, loss, betrayal and courage that brings the reader deep into the seething heart of the French and Indian War.

1754. Inseparable since birth and growing up in India, Theo and Connie Courtney are torn apart by the tragic death of their parents.

Theo, wracked with guilt, seeks salvation in combat and conflict, joining the British in the war against the French and Indian army. Connie, believing herself abandoned by her brother, and abused and brutalised by a series of corrupt guardians, makes her way to France, where she is welcomed into high society. Here, she once again finds herself at the mercy of vicious men, whose appetite for war and glory lead her to the frontlines of the French battlefield in North America.

As the siblings find their destinies converging once more, they realise that the vengeance and redemption they both desperately seek could cost them their lives . . .

The Triumph of the Sun

by Wilbur Smith

Published 28 March 2005

In the Sudan, decades of brutal misgovernment by the ruling Egyptian Khedive in Cairo precipitate a fierce and bloody rebellion and Holy War headed by a charismatic new religious leader, The Mahdi or "Expected One". The British are forced to intervene to protect their national interests and to attempt to rescue the hundreds of British subjects stranded in the country.

Along with hundreds of others, British trader and businessman, Ryder Courtney is trapped in the capital city of Khartoum. It is here that he meets Captain Penrod Ballantyne of the 10th Hussars, as well as the British Consul, David Benbrook and his three beautiful daughters. Against the vivid and bloody backdrop of the siege of Khartoum, in which British General Charles George Gordon is killed and the British retreat, these three powerful men fight to survive.

Rich with vibrant historical detail and infused with his inimitable powers of storytelling, THE TRIUMPH OF THE SUN is Wilbur Smith at his masterful best.


Golden Fox

by Roberto Smith and Wilbur Smith

Published 26 March 1990
In the heat of a divided Africa two decades of dynastic conflict explode with terrifying ferocity. Only Isabella Courteney stands between her two brothers and the mutual destruction they have willed for so long.

Burning Shore

by Wilbur Smith

Published 22 April 1985
'Centaine screamed and drove the point of her stave down into the jaws with all her strength. She felt the sharpened end bite into the soft pink mucous membrane in the back of its throat, saw the spurt of scarlet blood, and then the lion locked its jaws on the stave and with a toss of its flying mane ripped it out of her hands and sent it windmilling out and down to hit the earth below.' The passionate love of a beautiful French aristocrat for a courageous South African aviator is begun and extinguished in the blazing skies of war-torn France. But Centaine de Thiry is bent on realizing some of the dreams which she and Michael Courtney had shared - and sets out to seek a future for his unborn child in the country of Michael's birth. But in a monumental odyssey of disaster and adventure she must first brave all the combined terrors of war, shipwreck, thirst, fever and the burning vastnesses of Namibia's Skeleton Coast before she sees another living soul...