VJ Books presents Wilbur Smith!

Wilbur Smith

As a baby, he was sick with cerebral malaria for ten days, but made a full recovery. He grew up on a cattle ranch and spent his childhood hunting and hiking. His mother gave him novels of escape and excitement, which piqued his interest in fiction; however, his father dissuaded him from pursuing writing.

After education at Cordwalles Preparatory School, Michaelhouse in Natal and Rhodes University, in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, he became a journalist, writing about social conditions in South Africa, but his father's advice to "Get a real job" prompted him to resentfully become a tax accountant.

He published his first novel, When the Lion Feeds, in 1964, written while he worked for Salisbury Inland Revenue. The book gained a film deal and its success encouraged him to become a full-time writer. His publisher and later agent, Charles Pick, gave him advice he never forgot: "Write for yourself, and write about what you know best."

Wilbur Smith lives in London and continues to have an abiding concern for the peoples and wildlife of his native continent, an interest strongly reflected in his novels.

Those in Peril Signed 1st UK Ed.

The Quest 1st UK Edition