Historical novels and biographies bring to life the Rhodesia and Zimbabwe we know and love. From the Matebele Kings Mzilikazi and Lobengula, through courage, adventure and heartbreak, from explorers and missionaries, to gold diggers and hunters, through Imperialism, Colonialism and Nationalism. All of them, paint a myriad miniatures to shape the character and essence of our nation.

And what a nation! What reprobates, what heroes, what distortions and what truths lurk among these stories. I understood from writing my father's biography, Beloved African, that there was an awful lot more to find out. Then I realised that my young childhood and those of my three friends, held some interesting keys.

Developing historical fact, through using the lives of these four, now fictional characters as the foundation, has allowed them to question everything from the Matebele Kings to colonial settlement to U.D.I. - the Rhodesian Unilateral Declaration of Independence from Britain.

They do so with the benefit of some hindsight as THE HORNS, the first book of the Zambezi Trilogy, takes place from their childhood in the early 1940's to leaving school and finally, moving into young adulthood. In so doing, they are confronted by how disparate their lives and thinking have become - until book one ends abruptly in 1966.

Abruptly enough I hope, to keep you in suspense for the next one!