Power of the Sword
First edition
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| Author | Wilbur Smith |
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| Country | South Africa |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Courtney Novels |
| Publisher | Heinemann |
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Publication date
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1986 |
| Preceded by | The Burning Shore |
| Followed by | Rage |
Power of the Sword is a novel by Wilbur Smith set before and during World War II.
The book features a critical portrayal of Hendrik Verwoerd who Smith described as "probably the most evil man in South Africa's history. Worse even than Chaka."
It starts in the 1930s, and covers the Berlin Olympics, World War Two, an assassination attempt on Jan Smuts and the 1948 South African election which saw the official introduction of apartheid.
In the time of the Great Depression, Lothar De La Rey and his son Manfred own and operate a fleet of fishing trawlers and a cannery. Centaine de Thiry, Manfred's mother and one of Lothar's creditors, seizes his assets in an attempt to recoup her original investment, believing that Lothar will be unable to pay her back in the current financial climate. During their confrontation, Manfred gets into a fight with Centaine's other son and his half-brother, Shasa Courtney, nearly killing him. Now destitute and bitter, Lothar and his friend Swart Hendrick make plans to rob Centaine's diamond mine.
Days after, Centaine and Shasa return to South- West Africa to visit the H'ani Mine in the outer reaches of the Kalahari. On their visit to the mine ,Shasa is put as an apprentice on the mine to learn the functions of the mine where he befriends Moses, a black revolutionary who plans to start a black mineworkers union, much to Centaine' s and Dr. Twentyman- Jones' dismay, leading them to fire him. Shasa meets a daughter of a foreman on the mine, who is a prostitute, seducing him and is caught on their return to the mine. Centaine realises the effects the girl unleashed on Shasa, being that his de Thiry blood is unleashed thus, retrenches her family.Meanwhile, Lothar strikes a deal with a driver who transports the monthly shipments of Centaine's diamonds, to hand over the diamonds to them, which goes wrong. Centaine and Shasa return to Windhoek after two weeks on the mine, where she meets the administrator of the territory of South - West Africa and his crippled wife.
A night after Centaine returns to Windhoek, a strike at the mine unintentionally caused by Lothar's manipulations breaks out, prompting Centaine to drive toward the mine herself in the dark. After she returns to the mine and attempts to negotiate with the strikers, Centaine attempts to transport the next shipment of diamonds to the bank herself. As she drives through the desert, Lothar ambushes her and steals the diamonds, but is bitten on the wrist by Centaine during the struggle. Lothar, Manfred and Hendrick flee north through the desert to the Portuguese colonies, where they believe they will be able to start new lives. They are pursued by Centaine and Lieutenant-Colonel Blaine Malcomess, the governor of South West Africa, along with a detachment of mounted police and a group of bushmen trackers.
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