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Home / Series / Assegai Sequence

Series

Assegai Sequence

The Assegai Sequence follows Leon Courtney and his daughter Saffron from British East Africa before the First World War through the rise of Nazism, the Second World War and the early post-war struggle over colonial Kenya. The books combine family conflict, espionage and military history across Africa and Europe.

Reading order

Books in this series (6 books)

Assegai cover

#1 – Assegai

Wilbur Smith

British East Africa, 1913. Leon Courtney has left the army and built a reputation as a professional hunter. His uncle, General Penrod Ballantyne, recruits him to observe German clients and identify preparations for a European war that may spread into Africa. The safari world also provides…

War Cry cover

#2 – War Cry

Wilbur Smith

Kenya, England and Germany between 1918 and 1939. Saffron Courtney grows up on her father Leon’s estate before education and family tragedy take her to Europe. In Germany, Gerhard von Meerbach watches his brother align the family’s industrial power with the Nazi movement. The story follows…

Courtney’s War cover

#3 – Courtney’s War

Wilbur Smith

Europe during the Second World War. Gerhard von Meerbach serves in the German army despite his opposition to Nazism and is sent into the destruction of Stalingrad. Saffron Courtney is recruited by the Special Operations Executive and dispatched to occupied Belgium. The parallel narratives contrast the…

Legacy of War cover

#4 – Legacy of War

Wilbur Smith

Europe and Kenya after 1945. Saffron Courtney and Gerhard von Meerbach attempt to rebuild their lives, but Gerhard’s Nazi brother Konrad remains free and seeks to recover influence through blackmail, violence and old political connections. The European plot examines the difficulty of prosecuting or exposing men…

Crossfire cover

#5 – Crossfire

Wilbur Smith

The Atlantic and Washington, 1943. After the Soviet victory at Stalingrad, Allied leaders prepare discussions that will shape the next phase of the war. SOE agent Saffron Courtney travels aboard the Queen Mary with orders to identify a mole inside the British Embassy. The voyage and…

Flashpoint cover

#6 – Flashpoint

Wilbur Smith

Leros, 1943, and Kenya and the United States in 1946. Saffron Courtney is ordered to extract a Jewish scientist whose knowledge is important to the Allied war effort from the besieged Dodecanese island of Leros. The Leros mission draws on the failed Dodecanese campaign, where Allied…