Wilbur Smith was born in Central Africa in 1933. He was educated at Michaelhouse and Rhodes University. He became a full time writer in 1964 after the successful publication of When the Lion Feeds, and has since written twenty-six novels, all meticulously researched on his numerous expeditions worldwide. his books are now translated into twenty-six languages. He owns a farm and game reserve and has an abiding concern for the people and wildlife of his native continent, an interest strongly reflected in his novels.