The Reverend Doctor Christopher Syn is the smuggler hero of a series of novels by Russell Thorndike. The first book, Doctor Syn: A Tale of the Romney Marsh was published in 1915. The story idea came from smuggling in the 18th-century Romney Marsh, where brandy and tobacco were brought in at night by boat from France to avoid the tax. Minor battles were fought, sometimes at night, between gangs of smugglers, such as the Hawkhurst Gang, and the Revenue, supported by the army and local militias in South Kent and Sussex.
The Shining is a 1977 horror novel by American author Stephen King. It is King's third published novel and first hardcover bestseller; its success firmly established King as a preeminent author in the horror genre. The setting and characters are influenced by King's personal experiences, including both his visit to The Stanley Hotel in 1974 and his struggle with alcoholism. The novel was adapted into a 1980 film and a 1997 miniseries. The book was followed by a sequel, Doctor Sleep, published in 2013, which in turn was adapted into a film of the same name in 2019.
Treasure Island is an adventure and historical novel by the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. It was published in 1883, and tells a story of "buccaneers and buried gold" set in the 1700s. It is considered a coming-of-age story and is noted for its atmosphere, characters, and action.
Wilbur Addison Smith was a Northern Rhodesian-born British-South African novelist specializing in historical fiction about international involvement in Southern Africa across four centuries.
A novelization is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, stage play, comic book, or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent of home video, but continue to find commercial success as part of marketing campaigns for major films. They are often written by accomplished writers based on an early draft of the film's script and on a tight deadline.
John Edward Hawkins, CBE was an English actor who worked on stage and in film from the 1930s until the 1970s. One of the most popular British film stars of the 1950s, he was known for his portrayal of military men.
Major-General Sir Richard Hannay, KCB, OBE, DSO, is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist John Buchan and further made popular by the 1935 Alfred Hitchcock film The 39 Steps, very loosely based on Buchan's 1915 novel of the same name. In his autobiography, Memory Hold-the-Door, Buchan suggests that the character is based, in part, on Edmund Ironside, from Edinburgh, a spy during the Second Boer War, and a British Army field marshal and CIGS.
In 1980 the British Lions rugby union team toured South Africa. The tour was not a success for the Lions, as they lost the first three tests before salvaging some pride with a win in the fourth. The team did however win all their 14 non-international matches. The Lions were captained by Bill Beaumont.
Tim McCanlies is an American film director and screenwriter. He is best known for writing and directing Secondhand Lions, and for writing the screenplay for The Iron Giant.
Guns at Batasi is a 1964 British drama film starring Richard Attenborough, Jack Hawkins, Flora Robson, John Leyton and Mia Farrow. The film is based on the 1962 novel The Siege of Battersea by Robert Holles and was directed by John Guillermin. Although the action is set in an overseas colonial military outpost during the last days of the British Empire in East Africa, filming was done at Pinewood Studios in the United Kingdom.
Gideon's Day is a 1958 police procedural crime film directed by John Ford and starring Jack Hawkins, Dianne Foster and Cyril Cusack. The screenplay was by T.E.B. Clarke, adapted from John Creasey's 1955 novel of the same title.
Dark of the Sun is a 1968 British adventure war film starring Rod Taylor, Yvette Mimieux, Jim Brown, and Peter Carsten. The film, which was directed by Jack Cardiff, is based on Wilbur Smith's 1965 novel, The Dark of the Sun. The story about a band of mercenaries sent on a dangerous mission during the Congo Crisis was adapted into a screenplay by Ranald MacDougall. Critics condemned the film on its original release for its graphic scenes of violence and torture.
When the Lion Feeds (1964) is the debut novel of Rhodesian writer Wilbur Smith. It introduces the Courtney family, whose adventures Smith would tell in many subsequent novels. In 2012, Smith said the novel remained his favourite because it was his first to be published.
Treasure Island is a 1999 film adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's 1883 novel. It was written and directed by Peter Rowe and stars Kevin Zegers as Jim Hawkins and Jack Palance as Long John Silver.
Assegai is Wilbur Smith's thirty-second novel, it follows The Triumph of the Sun in which the author brought the Courtney and Ballantyne series together. Assegai tells the story of Leon Courtney and is set in 1906 in Kenya. The events in the story are linked to and precede the outbreak of World War One.
Tarzan is a series of 24 adventure novels written by Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875–1950) and published between 1912 and 1966, followed by several novels either co-written by Burroughs, or officially authorized by his estate. There are also two works written by Burroughs especially for children that are not considered part of the main series.
Bernard Lewis was a Jewish South African art critic, journalist, and author.
Giles Kristian is an English singer and novelist, known for his action adventure novels in the historical fiction genre. He is best known for his Raven series, about a young man's coming of age amongst a band of Viking warriors. His first novel, the bestselling Raven: Blood Eye, was published to great acclaim. Two further novels complete the Raven Saga; Sons of Thunder and Odin's Wolves, and to date the books have been published in eight languages. He has written two books set during the English Civil War The Bleeding Land and Brothers Fury published by Transworld Publishers. In 2015, he co-wrote Golden Lion with Wilbur Smith, part of Smith's bestselling Courtney series. This book was a no.1 bestseller across three continents. Kristian's second Viking series, The Rise of Sigurd trilogy, comprises God of VengeanceWinter’s Fire and Wings of the Storm. Kristian worked as a narrative designer on the Multiplayer online survival roleplaying game Valnir Rok, developed by encurio GmbH. Kristian's novel, Lancelot, published in 2018 tells the story of one of the great figures of British myth and legend. It reached No. 6 in The Sunday Times bestseller list and No. 3 in The Times bestseller list. Its sequel Camelot, was published in May 2020.
A Time to Die is a 1989 novel by Wilbur Smith. Set in 1987, it is chronologically the last of the 13 Courtney Novels. Smith did not regard it strictly as a Courtney novel, however, claiming "it's just got a Courtney name in it. It's not in the mainstream of the series."
The Last Victims is a 2019 political drama film directed by Maynard Kraak. The film was filmed entirely on location in KwaZulu-Natal South Africa and world premiered at the Pan African Film Festival (PAFF) on 8 February 2019. The film then opened the Rapid Lion - South African International Film Festival at the historic Market Theater in Johannesburg, South Africa on 1 March 2019. It screened "in competition" with three nominations: Best Feature Film, Best Cinematography and Best Actor in a Leading Role. The film was then selected at 40th Durban International Film Festival (DIFF), Durban South Africa. The film is now selected in competition at Knysna Film Festival, Knysna, South Africa & African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) in Nigeria. The film is nominated in 3 different section at AMAA viz. Best Screenplay, Best Editing & Best Sound.
