Op 'n kontinent wat ongelooflike rykdom verberg, aanskou Sean Courtney en sy tweelingbroer, Garrick, die eerste lewenslig. Die sorgelose lewe op hul pa se plaas in Natal word egter wreed onderbreek wanneer geweld, begeerte en die noodlot Sean wegruk van alles wat bekend is. Op die Witwatersrand, waar goud pas ontdek is, moet Sean sy pad oopveg na sukses. In die tog om sy fortuin te maak, bou hy ook 'n lewenslange vriendskap, konfronteer sy duiwels en baan sy weg na 'n belowende toekoms. Dan ruk verraad die mat onder sy voete uit en als waaroor hy gewerk het, word skielik van hom af weggeneem. Maar wie nie waag nie, wen nie ... In die wildernis wag 'n nuwe avontuur. Niks kry hom onder nie ⁰́₃ nie 'n verwoede aanval deur 'n olifantbul of die grusame sterftes wat hy moet aanskou nie ⁰́₃ en steeds bly Sean droom van 'n gesin en 'n plaas van sy eie. Die dapper jong man wat alles met bloedsweet oorwin, besef egter weldra dat die verlede hom steeds in sy kloue beet het ...

"'Something always dies when the lion feeds and yet there is meat for those that follow him.' The lion is Sean, hero of this tremendous drama of the men who took possession of South Africa in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Sean and his twin brother, Garrick, grew up on their father's farm in Natal. The first part of the book deals with his childhood and youth and his longing to become a successful farmer and hard-hitting fighter like his father. The tough life of cattle-farming is brusquely interrupted by the Zulu Wars, when Sean and his brother see fighting for the first time. Wilbur Smith vividly recreates the excitement of the war for the young men - their hope of winning their own cattle, the horror of the massacre at Isandhlwana, the heroism of the defence at Rorkes Drift. Witwatersrand is the name of the second part of this book and it tells the story of Sean's fabulous success in the gold rush and his rich life with Duff Charleywood and the beautiful Candy in the new town of Johannesburg, where huge fortunes were made and lost in a morning's dealing on the Exchange."--Publisher: http://www.wilbursmithbooks.com/books/courtney/when-the-lion-feeds