Novelist Wilbur Smith was born in Broken Hill, Northern Rhodesia on January 9, 1933. He graduated from Rhodes University. He has writen more than 20 novels, which have been translated into 26 different languages. The Dark Side of the Sun, Wild Justice, and Shout at the Devil have all been adapted as films. Smith says that Africa is his major inspiration, and currently he has over 30 novels published. He made The New York Times Best Seller List with his title Desert God.