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An epic saga of power, freedom, and the human spirit

Nelson Mandela buried a gun at his secret hideout shortly before his betrayal by the CIA and capture by the South African Police. The gun has never been found. This tantalizing and historically documented fact is the catalyst for a compelling historical novel about competing quests for freedom and the struggle for power in South Africa, a sweeping saga set against the backdrop of the country's violent history, vivid landscape, and wrenching antipathy between freedom fighter and terrorist, patriot and traitor, saint and sinner.

Amandla is told from the points of view of memorable African and Afrikaner characters, men and women, whose families are inextricably entangled through three generations of conflict. Their fictional forebears fight a historic battle that turns a river red with the blood of warriors, and in a war between an army of farmers and the might of the British Empire. Both families face the horrors of segregated genocide in black and white concentration camps, as well as enduring destitution as manual laborers on farms and in goldmines, while on the national stage their antipathies are fueled by the rise of communism and apartheid.

In the drama that unfolds, a tragic misunderstanding leads to a personal vendetta that mirrors prejudices at the heart of each group’s inability to comprehend the aspirations of the other, culminating in an attempt to assassinate Nelson Mandela—with his own gun!