Twenty years ago, Wilbur Smith thought Zimbabwe, Kenya and Malawi had “a fighting chance”: no longer. “Africa”, he now believes, “is going back to where it was before the white man intruded.” Wilbur Smith may have sold 80 million copies, but he, like those he speaks for, will never now recover (in his case) the 25,000-acre ranch on which he was brought up, and where he hunted his first big game. Nonetheless, those he writes for will continue to read his books.

All from the TLS.
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