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Series
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
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…