One of the most beloved and defining novels written by the master of adventure and global sensation, Wilbur Smith.

''Left me with a sense of corrosive envy. It is an absolute masterwork, as good a yarn as you''ll ever read anywhere'' - Conn Iggulden

''A master storyteller'' - Sunday Times

''Wilbur Smith is one of those benchmarks against whom others are compared'' - The Times

''No one does adventure quite like Smith'' - Daily Mirror

The discovery of a lifetime comes with a high price . . .

For millennia an ancient civilisation has been hidden, deep in the Botswana cliffs. Dr Ben Kazin has only a blurred photograph to prove it, but with the backing of his old friend, Louren Sturvesant, he is determined to uncover the archaeological find of a lifetime.

But a whispered curse and a chance encounter with a local tribe lead him to discover much more than city foundations. The curse, it seems, is real, and will link Ben, his oldest friend, and the woman they both love with a forgotten leader from two thousand years ago, in a city of glory and honour that subsequently disappeared without a trace.

What happened to that ancient civilisation? And what is it that connects that lost empire to Ben, and the violent dangers he must face in the present day?