Shout at the Devil (1968) was a World War I adventure tale which would be filmed in 1976. It was followed by Gold Mine (1970), an adventure tale about the gold mining industry set in contemporary South Africa, based on a real-life flooding of a gold mine near Johannesburg in 1968. [24] The sailor grunted. ‘You’ll be teaching me to fart next.’ But he smiled at Hal in avuncular fashion – the boy was the ship’s favourite. Kerridge, Jake (14 September 2014). "Wilbur Smith interview for Desert God: 'My life is as good as it's ever been' ". Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235 . Retrieved 11 January 2018.

Webmaster (18 January 2015). "Dark of the Sun/The Mercenaries (1967) | Nostalgia Central" . Retrieved 12 October 2020. Within the waters of the northern continent, acts of piracy, rapine and murder – whose perpetrator previously would have been hunted down by the combined navies of Christian Europe and hanged from his own yard-arm – were condoned and even applauded when committed beyond the Line. Every embattled monarch signed Letters of Marque that, at a stroke, converted his merchantmen into privateers, ships of war, and sent them out marauding on the newly discovered oceans of the expanding globe. Smith stayed with the Courtney family for Power of the Sword (1986) (up to World War II), Rage (1987) (the post-war period up until the Sharpeville massacre), A Time to Die (1989) (the war in Mozambique) and Golden Fox (1990) (the Angola War). Smith admits to being tempted by movie money at this stage of his career but deliberately wrote something that was a complete change of pace, The Sunbird (1972). [25] Precious little,’ Hal admitted, and pointed out the tiny sails of the two pinnaces on the distant horizon. ‘Neither carries any signals,’ Hal told him. ‘Watch for the red flag – it’ll mean they have the chase in sight.’Shout at the Devil (1968), filmed as Shout at the Devil (1976) starring Roger Moore, Lee Marvin and Barbara Parkins At the beginning of the seventeenth century, the small country of The Netherlands spread its sails, to become a major world trade player. With the establishment of the Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, Holland was soon equal with England as king of the seas. This and other internal, external, and political differences lead to a total of six Anglo-Dutch Wars, spanning intermittently between 1652 and 1810. The Second Anglo-Dutch War, from 1665 to 1667 saw an expansion of hostilities far from Europe. Spicer, Andrew (2012). "Rethinking Authorship in Film: The Struggle for Creative Control between Michael Klinger (Producer) and Wilbur Smith (Writer)". University of York . Retrieved 18 October 2021.

It was all so familiar to Hal Courtney. He had greeted the last five and sixty dawns from the masthead in this manner. His young eyes, the keenest in the ship, had been posted there to catch the first gleam of distant sail in the rose of the new day. His father was a metal worker who opened a sheet metal factory and then created a 25,000-acre (10,000ha) cattle ranch on the banks of the Kafue River near Mazabuka, by buying up a number of separate farms. [2] "My father was a tough man", said Smith. "He was used to working with his hands and had massively developed arms from cutting metal. He was a boxer, a hunter, very much a man's man. I don't think he ever read a book in his life, including mine". [1] a b Midgley, Dominic (15 December 2015). "How a life devoid of PR spin has made Wilbur Smith every interviewer's dream subject". After being introduced at a party in Salisbury, Smith married his second wife Jewell Slabbart on 28 August 1964. [2] [13] [38] They had a son, Lawrence, following the publication of Smith’s first novel ( When the Lion Feeds, 1964). "Everyone looked down on me, including her", he told one interviewer. "We didn't know anything about mutual respect or working together towards a goal—she thought I was useless." [39] This marriage also ended in divorce. [40] Smith later said "On honeymoon I realized I didn't know her [his second wife] well... By the time we divorced, I felt as if I'd been in two car smashes." [41]He forbade gambling, blasphemy and the drinking of strong spirits. He led prayers twice a day and exhorted his seamen to gentle and dignified behaviour when they put into port – although Hal knew that this advice was seldom followed. Now Sir Francis frowned darkly as he listened to his men exchange insults with those of the Buzzard but, as he could not have half the ship’s company flogged to signal his disapproval, he held his tongue until he was in easy hail of the frigate. His novels are divided into different groups, which he called series: the Courteney series, the Ballantyne series and the Egyptians series. While his career was evolving, he also got married (throughout his life he will marry 4 women), and his third wife, Danielle Antoinette Thomas with whom he married in 1971, became one of his greatest sources of inspiration. The woman, however, died on the 29th of December 1999 after a long illness. As he lost her he also lost an important muse. a b c Fox, Chloe (28 April 2007). "The world of Wilbur Smith, novelist". Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 14 March 2013. River God (1993) and The Seventh Scroll (1995), filmed as The Seventh Scroll TV miniseries (1999) starring Roy Scheider, Jeff Fahey and Karina Lombard

The pinnaces were open vessels, with a dozen heavily armed men crowded into each. When not needed they could be broken down and stowed in the Lady Edwina’s hold. Sir Francis changed their crews regularly, for neither the tough West Country men nor the Welsh nor the even hardier ex-slaves that made up most of his crew could endure the conditions aboard those little ships for long and still be fit for a fight at the end of it. In 2002, the World Forum on the Future of Sport Shooting Activities granted Smith the Inaugural Sport Shooting Ambassador Award. [35] Personal life [ edit ]

Wilbur Smith and the Big Screen

a b Agence France-Presse (14 November 2021). "The Guardian". Bestselling author Wilbur Smith dies aged 88. Smith attended boarding school at Cordwalles Preparatory School in Natal (now KwaZulu-Natal). [8] While in Natal, he continued to be an avid reader and had the good fortune to have an English master who made him his protégé and would discuss the books Smith had read that week. Unlike Smith's father and many others, the English master made it clear to Smith that being a bookworm was praiseworthy, rather than something to be ashamed of, and let Smith know that his writings showed great promise. He tutored Smith on how to achieve dramatic effects, to develop characters, and to keep a story moving forward. [ citation needed] As the Gull crossed upwind, there were howls of exaggerated disgust from the crew of the Lady Edwina. ‘By God, she stinks like a dung-heap.’ Although this story is set in the mid-seventeenth century, the galleons and caravels in which my characters find themselves are more usually associated with the sixteenth century. Seventeenth-century ships often bore a strong resemblance to those of the sixteenth century, but as their names may be unfamiliar to the general reader, I have used the better-known, if anachronistic, terms to convey an accessible impression of their appearance. Also, for the sake of clarity, I have simplified terminology in respect of firearms and, as it exists as such in common idiom, I have occasionally used the word ‘cannon’ as a generic.