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The Land God Made in Anger
The Land God Made In Anger - South West Africa-Namibia - has been governed by South Africa for decades, ever since German rule ended after the First World War. But German influence has remained strong. So when, a month after the Second World War ends, two German officers erupt from the sea along the infamous Skeleton Coast, escaping from a crippled U-boat, they are arriving on friendly territory. But who are they? Why have they come? Why do only two men escape from the submarine? And why does one of them immediately murder the other one on the shore?
670 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1990
4 people are currently reading
121 people want to read
About the author
John Gordon Davis
37 books19 followersJohn Gordon Davis was born and grew up in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). He had a degree in Political Science and an LLB. He served on the bar in Southern Rhodesia, before UDI in that country.
He became a full time writer after the success of his first book Hold my hand I'm dying.
He ran a course in fiction writing from Andalusia in Spain. He passed away in November 2014 and is survived by his wife Rosemary.
He became a full time writer after the success of his first book Hold my hand I'm dying.
He ran a course in fiction writing from Andalusia in Spain. He passed away in November 2014 and is survived by his wife Rosemary.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
July 11, 2011
Beautifully plotted. A gripping story which delves back into the German colonization of South West Africa, the second world war and the Nazi plan for a Fourth Reich.
Our main character is a naturalized Australian born in South Africa who owns a fishing boat and a licence to fish in South West African waters. Disillusioned with South Africa and with the turn he sees in SWA (an indication tha SA might pull troops out of the border and eventually grant SWA independence) he returns to Namibia with the intention of finding a buyer for his ship so that he can wash his hands off the country and return to Australia and open a business aimed at sailing tourists around the Australian coast.
A chance encounter with a drunk who has counterfeit bank notes leads to the possibility of an unknown German sunken u-boat off the Skeleton coast which he eventually finds. Excited with the possibility of finding loot he travels to Germany, Austria and England to gather as much information as he can before entering the submarine. On entry he realises that there are too many possible hiding places so he has to find the only person that escaped the submarine.
All of this is played out within the background of the possible implementation of Res. 435 which will grant Namibia independence, the reaction of the German speaking community in SWA, Hitler's plan to allow for the rise of the Fourth Reich precisely in South West Africa and South Africa, the hunting of Nazi war criminals and the countries they ran away to and rise of the AWB in South Africa.
I thought the author managed to weave a tight plot with a lot of research which didn't feel like infodump but was really interesting and integral to the story. History has proven otherwise because Nationalist movements lost support rather than gained it in the last twenty years and the transition from white majority rule to a black government in South Africa was peaceful but in the late 1980's what was going to happen was very unclear and the possibility this book espoused was very possible.
The hero James MacQuade, was not a typical hero. He starts out only interested in the loot and gradually as he discovers more information becomes more interested in doing the right thing (looking for the murderer from the submarine, handing over the war criminal to Mossad) but all the while never taking his eye off the ball (namely the loot that will be his no matter what).
The villain - I actually googled Heinrich Muller and he is the top most Nazi official with an unknown date of death so everything in this book sounds perfectly plausible. His utter disregard for everything would certainly be in keeping with everything else we know about Nazi war criminals.
The two weakest points in the story - MacQuade being the first person to take Skellum seriously and actually start the ball in motion. In forty years wouldn't the conterfeit bills have turned up somewhere to start somebody questioning?
- MacQuade being so certain that there was loot of some kind. His research just made him more adamant that there was loot and the end was sufficiently cutting to him and I reckon probably close to what would happen in reality.
Those are 2 small niggles and in no way take away from my enjoyment of this story and I would definitely read this author again.
Our main character is a naturalized Australian born in South Africa who owns a fishing boat and a licence to fish in South West African waters. Disillusioned with South Africa and with the turn he sees in SWA (an indication tha SA might pull troops out of the border and eventually grant SWA independence) he returns to Namibia with the intention of finding a buyer for his ship so that he can wash his hands off the country and return to Australia and open a business aimed at sailing tourists around the Australian coast.
A chance encounter with a drunk who has counterfeit bank notes leads to the possibility of an unknown German sunken u-boat off the Skeleton coast which he eventually finds. Excited with the possibility of finding loot he travels to Germany, Austria and England to gather as much information as he can before entering the submarine. On entry he realises that there are too many possible hiding places so he has to find the only person that escaped the submarine.
All of this is played out within the background of the possible implementation of Res. 435 which will grant Namibia independence, the reaction of the German speaking community in SWA, Hitler's plan to allow for the rise of the Fourth Reich precisely in South West Africa and South Africa, the hunting of Nazi war criminals and the countries they ran away to and rise of the AWB in South Africa.
I thought the author managed to weave a tight plot with a lot of research which didn't feel like infodump but was really interesting and integral to the story. History has proven otherwise because Nationalist movements lost support rather than gained it in the last twenty years and the transition from white majority rule to a black government in South Africa was peaceful but in the late 1980's what was going to happen was very unclear and the possibility this book espoused was very possible.
The hero James MacQuade, was not a typical hero. He starts out only interested in the loot and gradually as he discovers more information becomes more interested in doing the right thing (looking for the murderer from the submarine, handing over the war criminal to Mossad) but all the while never taking his eye off the ball (namely the loot that will be his no matter what).
The villain - I actually googled Heinrich Muller and he is the top most Nazi official with an unknown date of death so everything in this book sounds perfectly plausible. His utter disregard for everything would certainly be in keeping with everything else we know about Nazi war criminals.
The two weakest points in the story - MacQuade being the first person to take Skellum seriously and actually start the ball in motion. In forty years wouldn't the conterfeit bills have turned up somewhere to start somebody questioning?
- MacQuade being so certain that there was loot of some kind. His research just made him more adamant that there was loot and the end was sufficiently cutting to him and I reckon probably close to what would happen in reality.
Those are 2 small niggles and in no way take away from my enjoyment of this story and I would definitely read this author again.
December 30, 2012
Brilliant! I was constantly googling stuff about South African German history to find out what is fact. I learnt so much about my own countries history. And a brilliant story line combining my love for Africa and fascination about the second world war.
September 11, 2014
One of my best reads ever. As a South African, I know most of the places mentioned in this book and it is hard to think that this is fiction! It is so close to the truth!
Best book!
Best book!
May 18, 2022
This is probably the first time ever, that I can remember, that I did not like the main character and could not get myself to like him. I just could not relate to him (except for his hatred of Apartheid and the Nazis). I disagree that any loot even if it is not traceable to the original owners are morally belonging to the one who found it, especially if the loot were stolen by Nazis. The only reason I would not hand in treasure to the police is because I know they will probably just put it in their own pockets, but I think that in the case of this novel the loot should go automatically to the Jewish people or something. But I might be looking at this from a too narrow perspective. I still could not get myself to like to main character and some parts of the story really sounded like an old movie. The main idea of the story though was nice and I succeeded in finishing the book.
January 30, 2022
I see I am in a minority here. Nothing strange about that... This book was bad! Repetitiveness, communistphobia and not to mention the racism. The coloured crew, the black this and the black that together with the k-word were nauseating.
Rudolf Hess flew to Scotland in 1941, not 1942. He was not found guilty of war crimes. And he died in 1987 by hanging himself. Also there was no Republic of Transvaal.
Alas this book had potential. Imagine Heinrich Müller escaping in a submarine to set up the 4th Reich. Gripping. But not. Who killed Jacob and his family? How did the Nazis sniff these people out?
And then the title. Where does god fit into this. No! Will donate this book to be pulped for toilet paper.
Rudolf Hess flew to Scotland in 1941, not 1942. He was not found guilty of war crimes. And he died in 1987 by hanging himself. Also there was no Republic of Transvaal.
Alas this book had potential. Imagine Heinrich Müller escaping in a submarine to set up the 4th Reich. Gripping. But not. Who killed Jacob and his family? How did the Nazis sniff these people out?
And then the title. Where does god fit into this. No! Will donate this book to be pulped for toilet paper.
November 2, 2022
Spoiler alert. Could not finish it. I had hoped for a novel set in Africa along the lines of Wilbur Smith adventure novels featuring the Courteneys and the Ballantynes. Instead, there were pages and pages of text from reference sources, often verbatim, describing the holocaust and layout of German submarines. Two stars for the extensive research, but very repetitive - I lost count of the times the submarine was described as a “charnel house” and how the hero had to force himself to do something.
September 19, 2021
Loved the story and the cover art is dope
January 30, 2025
A blast from the past. Great story if you can tolerate macho characters, lots of booze, and God-fearing (or blasphemous!) language.
October 31, 2015
Very good.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews