Book
Sunset at Sheba
First published 1960
A brutal rebellion. Two clashing armies. A battle to decide their fate. South Africa, 1914. Diehard Boer generals led a new rebellion against the British-friendly governments of both Jan Smuts and Louis Botha. General Christiaan De Wet's attempt to join up with the Germans in South-West Africa failed, but the threat of the rebel forces was real to all of the men who lived through it. This is a story which began with fervent patriotism and ended in more bloodshed than anyone ever meant to spill. This is the story of the Battle of Sheba. An evocative and moving novel set between the mimosa shrubs and the thin pepper trees,
The novel draws on the 1914 Maritz Rebellion, when some former Boer commanders opposed South Africa’s pro-British government during the First World War. By placing divided veterans on opposing sides, it explores how memories of the Boer War persisted within the new Union of South Africa.
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