Synopses & Reviews
In this well researched novel based on fact, readers are taken to the East African frontier of 1916 and the war between Germans and . Surrounded by beauty and the oppressive heat of the African savanna, Lieutenant Michael Fuller
There are two kinds of wars: one is external, a public war for all the world to witness; the other intensely private, glimpsed at by only a few.
When Lieutenant Michael Fuller signed up to be part of the war, leaving behind a passionate yet vulnerable relationship, he had no idea that his experience would take him beyond the guns and bombs, deep into the heart of the human spirit.
It is 1916 on the German East African frontier - surrounded by the beauty and oppressing heat of the African savanna with its guardian, Kilimanjaro, towering above the skyline, a war of words and prejudices flares up - these are early days for South African and Rhodesian regiments to be camping with men from the King's African Rifles and the Indian Baluchis. Private battles are waged as officers use the war to further their careers or cloak their pasts and a Boer War hero's son carries the weight of his father's reputation with him before he's even taken his first life.
After a devastating defeat, Fuller, two men from the King's African Rifles, a Baluchi officer and Captain Carter are called to embark on a secret mission deep into enemy territory and the African bush. To survive these men are drawn into each other's struggles with both seen and unseen enemies and made to chose between duty and compassion.
Synopsis
In the East African frontier of 1916 and the World War I colonial wars between Germany and Britain, Lieutenant Michael Fuller, a South African fighting for the British, enlists only to find that the physical battles of war are not the only ones being fought—rampant racial prejudices are issues of contention. After suffering an embarrassing defeat, Lieutenant Fuller must join forces with two men from the King's African Rifles to embark on a secret mission deep into enemy territory and the African bush. Faced with the compelling conflicts of war, characters make difficult choices between duty and individual compassion.
About the Author
Hamilton Wende is the author of
Deadlines from the Edge: Images of War from Congo to Afghanistan,
Msimangu's Words,
The Quagga's Secret, and
True North: African Roads Less Travelled.