THE ZULU NATION, CONQUERED AND HUMILIATED, HAS LOST HOPE. BUT ONE WARRIOR WILL NEVER SURRENDER in South Africa during the late 19th century three great cultures contend for dominance and survival, two white and the other black. The British Empire, the Dutch speaking Boers or "Afrikaners" who see themselves as a white African tribe, and the great Zulu warrior nation each see war as inevitable. As war with the British approaches, the young Zulu warrior known as Manqoba deserts his age-regiment to pursue Boer raiders who have abducted and enslaved the children of his kraal. In a personal war of vengeance against the Afrikaners and particularly against the Boer family who was responsible for his brother's death, Manqoba becomes not only a terrifying specter of doom for the Boers but also a legend and beacon of hope to his own people. The Boer family who has become his blood enemy struggles to find and slay this crazed Zulu renegade even as they prepare for their own war against the hated British Empire. The outcome of their struggles will guide the future of South Africa for at least a century and change all of their lives forever.