Allan Mallinson's career as a cavalry officer gives his historical war novels a unique perspective. It's 1828, and Matthew Hervey is travelling to the wilds of Africa to help his friend Sir Eyre Somerville face off against King Shaka of the Zulus. As Hervey and Somerville travel deep into Shaka's territory, they realize the tyrant has murdered thousands of his own people. Then Shaka dies unexpectedly, and the two comrades are plunged into the midst of a deadly civil war.