William Goldman was an American novelist, playwright, and screenwriter. He first came to prominence in the 1950s as a novelist before turning to screenwriting. Among other accolades, Goldman won two Academy Awards in both writing categories: first for Best Original Screenplay for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) and then for Best Adapted Screenplay for All the President's Men (1976).
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.
Where the Red Fern Grows is a 1961 children's novel by Wilson Rawls about a boy who buys and trains two Redbone Coonhounds for hunting. It is a work of autobiographical fiction based on Rawls' childhood in the Ozarks.
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.
White hunter is a literary term used for professional big game hunters of European descent, from all over the world, who plied their trade in Africa, especially during the first half of the 20th century. The activity continues in the dozen African countries which still permit big-game hunting. White hunters derived their income from organizing and leading safaris for paying clients, or from the sale of ivory.
Sands of the Kalahari is a 1965 British adventure film starring Stuart Whitman, Stanley Baker, Susannah York, Harry Andrews, Theodore Bikel and Nigel Davenport, based on the 1960 novel The Sands of Kalahari by William Mulvihill. The screenplay was written by Cy Endfield and the uncredited William Mulvihill and directed by Cy Endfield. It was filmed in South West Africa and Spain and released by Paramount Pictures.
The Rum Diary is a 2011 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Bruce Robinson, based on the novel of the same name by Hunter S. Thompson, published 1998. The film stars Johnny Depp, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Rispoli, Amber Heard, Richard Jenkins, and Giovanni Ribisi.
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.
The Burning Shore is a novel by Wilbur Smith set during and after World War I.
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."
