186:. It confirms that as the prospect of war loomed, white Rhodesians felt the same insecurity as they had in 1890s; and, as they had done in the 1890s, they turned to the ruined city for inspiration. Wilbur Smith, who was born in Zambia and briefly lived in Rhodesia, identifies with their vulnerability."
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It was a very important book for me in my development as a writer because at that stage I was starting to become enchanted by the lure of
Hollywood. There had been some movies made of my books and I thought "whoa, what a way to go… All that money!" and I thought "hold on – am I a scriptwriter or am I
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a real writer?" Writing a book that could never be filmed was my declaration of independence. I made it so diffuse, with different ages and brought characters back as different entities. It was a complex book, it gave me a great deal of pleasure but that was the inspiration – to break free.
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took its name from the word "Opet", which in the novel is the name of a fictional
Phoenician city in South Africa and whose name is translated as "City of the Moon".
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in 1941 and his resulting obsession with civilizations rising and falling. Work on the novel was begun during a writing retreat in a caravan in the
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The novel began Smith's tradition of every hardback first edition having an embossed sunbird on the lower right hand corner of the front cover.
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Smith later named his home on the foothills of Table
Mountain in Cape Town "Sunbird Hill". He also named his private trust, the Sunbird Trust.
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Archeologist
Benjamin Kazin with the aid of his assistant Sally searches Botswana for what he believes to be the remains of the ancient
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426:"Rethinking Authorship in Film: The Struggle for Creative Control between Michael Klinger (Producer) and Wilbur Smith (Writer)"
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Despite the subject matter being different from his previous novels, pre-orders were four times higher than any of them.
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Smith was inspired in 1971 to begin work on the novel by memories of a childhood visit with his family to the ruins of
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Another academic wrote that the book " is the most complete fictional exploration of an exotic Great
Zimbabwe since
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Zimbabwe in Rhodesian Fiction Chennells, Anthony. Matatu; Leiden Iss. 34, (2007): 1-24,241.
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who had filmed two other Smith novels. However, as of 2023 no film has resulted.
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The novel was a favourite of Smith's, who claimed it was heavily influenced by
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368:"Novelist is accused of assuming secret lives to conceal his assets"
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about an archeological dig. The novel depicts a search for a
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338:"The secluded life that inspires best-sellers"
316:(Hardback). London: Zaffre. pp. 171–175.
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354:– via National Library of Australia.
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194:Film rights to the book were purchased by
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171:for an alleged inherent stance against
314:On Leopard Rock: A Life of Adventures
284:"Wilbur Smith answers your questions"
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424:Spicer, Andrew (27 September 2012).
365:MacGregor, Karen (9 February 2002),
402:Journal of Southern African Studies
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447:Vagg, Stephen (27 January 2022).
379:from the original on 20 June 2022
1070:Archaeology in popular culture
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657:The Leopard Hunts in Darkness
343:The Australian Women's Weekly
449:"The Cinema of Wilbur Smith"
1065:Heinemann (publisher) books
271:Interview with Wilbur Smith
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346:. 7 April 1982. p. 58
252:. 3 March 1973. p. 11
16:1972 novel by Wilbur Smith
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286:. BBC News. 6 April 2009
175:and implicit defense of
244:"The Ruins in Zimbabwe"
202:Progressive death metal
1075:Novels set in Botswana
1055:Novels by Wilbur Smith
761:The Triumph of the Sun
312:Smith, Wilbur (2018).
273:accessed 14 March 2013
233:at Wilbur Smith's page
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478:at Wilbur Smith Books
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1080:Phoenicia in fiction
1008:Mountain of Diamonds
992:The Kingfisher Caper
593:The Eye of the Tiger
545:The Sound of Thunder
428:. University of York
179:in southern Africa.
1060:1972 British novels
1032:The Diamond Hunters
569:The Diamond Hunters
537:The Dark of the Sun
529:When the Lion Feeds
173:African nationalism
93:is a 1972 novel by
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1035:(2001 mini-series)
1027:(1999 mini-series)
1024:The Seventh Scroll
1000:Shout at the Devil
721:The Seventh Scroll
673:Power of the Sword
553:Shout at the Devil
249:The Canberra Times
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908:Call of the Raven
665:The Burning Shore
617:Hungry as the Sea
323:978-1-78576-534-6
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839:With co-writers
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609:A Sparrow Falls
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1016:Wild Justice
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514:Wilbur Smith
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430:. Retrieved
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381:, retrieved
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95:Wilbur Smith
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81:South Africa
43:Wilbur Smith
22:The Sunbird
18:
960:Adaptations
914:Thunderbolt
847:Golden Lion
577:The Sunbird
476:The Sunbird
470:The Sunbird
397:Martin Hall
230:The Sunbird
169:The Sunbird
165:Martin Hall
90:The Sunbird
1049:Categories
938:Storm Tide
902:Cloudburst
895:Ghost Fire
801:Desert God
697:Golden Fox
641:Men of Men
432:18 October
383:18 October
350:5 December
256:5 December
216:References
190:Adaptation
177:white rule
134:Background
128:Phoenician
99:Phoenician
950:Prey Zone
932:Shockwave
769:The Quest
713:River God
561:Gold Mine
512:Works by
472:at Kirkus
163:Academic
159:Reception
112:. Smith:
61:Heinemann
57:Publisher
855:Predator
601:Cry Wolf
377:archived
290:14 March
103:Botswana
49:Language
871:War Cry
809:Pharaoh
777:Assegai
745:Warlock
737:Monsoon
453:Filmink
52:English
1003:(1976)
995:(1975)
987:(1974)
979:(1972)
971:(1968)
952:(2022)
946:(2022)
940:(2022)
934:(2022)
928:(2021)
922:(2021)
916:(2021)
910:(2020)
904:(2020)
898:(2019)
890:(2019)
882:(2018)
874:(2017)
866:(2017)
858:(2016)
850:(2015)
831:(2018)
820:Memoir
812:(2016)
804:(2014)
796:(2013)
788:(2011)
780:(2009)
772:(2007)
764:(2005)
756:(2003)
748:(2001)
740:(1999)
732:(1997)
724:(1995)
716:(1993)
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604:(1976)
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588:(1974)
580:(1972)
572:(1971)
564:(1970)
556:(1968)
548:(1966)
540:(1965)
532:(1964)
521:Novels
320:
184:Benita
39:Author
210:Opeth
208:band
984:Gold
681:Rage
434:2021
385:2021
352:2015
318:ISBN
292:2013
258:2015
206:rock
122:Plot
72:1972
1051::
451:.
375:,
371:,
340:.
300:^
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105:.
505:e
498:t
491:v
455:.
436:.
326:.
294:.
204:/
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