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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 show more 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. show lessTags
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karatelpek Takes place a decade or so before the Siege of Khartoum in Ethiopia. Explores North-East Africa in the late 1800s through the eyes of British colonists and adventures.
Member Reviews
This audiobook just blew me away -- it is an amazing story, very well-told. The world of Sudan under British influence around 1860 - 1890 is described in tremendous detail, as well as the culture of the Islamic emirs who struggle to acquire/retain power. The characters (both British and Arab) are complex, with strengths vying with weaknesses, and I found myself rooting for them. I learned unexpected things, like how to hunt an elephant and strategies for traversing long distances in the dessert.
Predictable, stilted, hard to put down. Courtney meets Ballantyne in Khartoum, man gets girl, girl gets man, the British win.
unnecessarily bloody and violent. good description of the seige of khartoum. good action and adventure story, but the characters were unsympathetic. wouldn't recommend this book.
Almost another fully great novel by Wilbur Smith. The story was going great but suddenly it's as if Mr. Smith ran out of time and had to wrap up the story. Very weak ending. In my opinion, this is Wilbur Smith's weakest book.
This is a Historical fiction of the Holy War between Egyptians and Arabs in Cairo during 1884. I think that this book was well written at first I was apprehensive about this book because the description on the back does not do it justice. The love scenes are a bit redundant but this does not affected the enjoyment of this book.
This audio book was from a free bin at a local book store
This audio book was from a free bin at a local book store
I attempted to read the official electronic version from St. Martin' s (obtained from the Sony bookstore). After a couple of chapters, I gave up fighting perhaps the most abysmal typesetting I have ever come across in a novel. Just one example should suffice The word "you" was split so that "yo" appeared on one page and "u" appeared on another. I could give many equally egregious examples. The text is essentially unreadable. Perhaps if the story had captured my interest I would have persevered for a while longer; but the first couple of chapters were so slow-moving that they did not remotely compensate for the atrocious typesetting.
This is a Historical fiction of the Holy War between Egyptians and Arabs in Cairo during 1884. I think that this book was well written at first I was apprehensive about this book because the description on the back does not do it justice. The love scenes are a bit redundant but this does not affected the enjoyment of this book.
This audio book was from a free bin at a local book store
This audio book was from a free bin at a local book store
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Stories set on African soil
183 works; 2 members
Author Information
152+ Works 38,538 Members
Series
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Triumph of the Sun
- Original title
- The Triumph of the Sun
- Original publication date
- 2005
- People/Characters
- Ryder Courtney; Captain Penroyd Ballantyne; David Benbrook
- Important places
- Khartoum, Sudan; Sudan; Egypt
- Important events
- Siege of Khartoum (1884-03-13 | 1885-01-26); Mahdist War (1881 | 1899)
- Epigraph*
- La terra brucia dell'inestinguibile sete di millenni, e nel cielo azzurro acciaio neppure nuna nuvola ostacola l'implacabile trionfo del sole.
Winston S. Churchill - Dedication
- This book is for
my helpmate, playmate, soulmate, wife and best friend,
Mokhiniso Rakhimova Smith - First words
- Rebecca leant her elbows on the sill of the wide, unglazed window, and the heat of the desert blew into her face like the exhalation of a blast furnace.
- Quotations*
- De aarde brandt door de onlesbare dorst van de eeuwen en in de staalblauwe hemel is er bijna geen wol die de meedogenloze triomf van de zon in de weg staat. - DE RIVIERENOORLOG, Winston Churchill, 1905
- Last words*
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Ma ora se ne sono andati tutti, perchè in Africa il sole è l'unico a trionfare per l'eternità.
- Disambiguation notice
- BCA edition
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
- Genres
- Fiction and Literature, General Fiction, Historical Fiction
- DDC/MDS
- 823.914 — Literature & rhetoric English & Old English literatures English fiction 1900- 1901-1999 1945-1999
- LCC
- PR9405.9 .S5 .T75 — Language and Literature English English Literature English literature: Provincial, local, etc.
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 1,077
- Popularity
- 23,729
- Reviews
- 9
- Rating
- (3.64)
- Languages
- 13 — Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Norwegian (Bokmål), Norwegian, Spanish, Swedish
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 68
- ASINs
- 15