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The Triumph of the Sun is a novel by Wilbur Smith set during the Siege of Khartoum. Smith himself said the following about the novel:
"That incident had all the elements of a great story setting because you have the captive characters who are having to interact with each other because there is no escape – siege conditions. Also the river. I’m fascinated by the great rivers of Africa. Played against that was a sort of island setting in the desert. Then it had such powerful influences at work – the British Empire against the revolting Mahdists, the conflict of religions, Gordon and the Mahdi, both of them totally fanatical, believing that they spoke directly to God, and unbendable and unbending."
Smith wrote a series of novels concerning two families, the Courtneys and the Ballantynes. This is his first book where the families meet. "Right from Birds of Prey (chronologically the earliest Courtney book) the Courtneys were pirates, merchants, looking to seize the main chance," said Smith. "They were very much driven by monetary considerations. But with the Ballantynes it was much more empire, patriotism, glory – the soldierly virtues. I’ve kept them intact.”
Smith researched the novel by consulting the diaries of participants, the most valuable of which was Austrian Rudolf von Slatin who was captured by the Mahdi and kept prisoner for thirteen years, and Samuel White Baker, governor General of the Sudan just before the siege. He also used The River War by Winston Churchill. The character of David Benbrook, British ambassador in Khartoum, was fictitious.
