In 701 B.C. the Assyrian empire was in its ascendancy. It had already vanquished the kingdom of Israel to the north including the capital at Samaria. It then prepared an assault on Judah and its capital at Jerusalem.
But in one of those significant events that changes the course of world history, Assyria was repelled. Jerusalem was saved until 586 B.C. when the Babylonians sacked the city, forcing its leadership class into exile.
Henry Aubin, in a major feat of scholarship, determines that Jerusalem was aided by a Kushite army from Africa which had marched northeast from the Nile valley. While the Bible attributes the Assyrian retreat to an angel and secular commentators cite pestilence, Aubin, in a meticulously documented work, demonstrates that an alliance with the African nation of Kush bolstered Jerusalem’s defences.
Kush, also known as Nubia, was located in what is now southern Egypt and northern Sudan. A monarchy that existed for more than 1000 years, from 900 B.C. to A.D. 350, Kushites held sway over Egypt from 712 B.C. to about 660 B.C. Of Egypt’s 31 dynasties, this, the 25th Dynasty, is the only one that all scholars agree, was black.
The commander of the Kushite expeditionary force was Taharqa (or as the Bible calls him Tirhakah). This Kushite prince, who had his own interests in halting Assyrian expansion, likely caught the aggressors by surprise as they prepared their siege of Jerusalem.
Aubin offers a thrilling military history and a stirring political analysis of the ancient world. He also sees the event as influential over the centuries.
The Kushite rescue of the Hebrew kingdom of Judah enabled the fragile, war-ravaged state to endure, to nurse itself back to economic and demographic health, and allowed the Hebrew religion, Yahwism, to evolve within the next several centuries into Judaism. Thus emerged the monotheistic trunk supporting Christianity and Islam.
Praise for The Aberhart Summer
“… A wonderful portrait of the time and place…A marvelous sense of the smell and the emotion…â€
John Ralston Saul
“The writing of Bruce Allen Powe is like the Great Depression itself: spare, lean, and covered with a textured grit that owes much to the winds of imagination.â€
The Toronto Star
“A tale that reverberates with pathos and mystery.â€
Maclean’s
“A concise, lyric gem.â€
The Montreal Gazette
Praise for Aldershot 1945
“A solid historical whodunit with a great plot…A terrific novel…â€
The Globe and Mail
Manuscript available
The Bean Counter
Ted Harrow is perched on the knife-edge of transition. His life as an Ottawa civil servant is over, a casualty of government downsizing and revenge from his rivals. His wife Noddie is in Nova Scotia to bury her mother and to protect her claim on the family house, which is being challenged by her two bothers.
When Ted joins Noddie in Nova Scotia, he is plunged into two mysteries. The first is the shipwreck of a vessel that mysteriously appeared in their secluded bay; the other involves the death of six local men involved in the rescue and salvage operation. Dark rumours, suspicion and threats engulf the tight and fractious community. Ted’s analytical skills are pressed into service by one of the widows. Another puzzle concerns Noddie’s brothers. They are camped out in the house trying to wrest it for themselves, yet they have more splendid digs elsewhere.
The pleasure in the novel is the portrayal of the place and the people. The spice is provided by the questions. And the meaning is glimpsed in the hidden depths of motives and grievances.
Bruce Allen Powe is the author of six highly acclaimed novels, including his classic novel The Aberhart Summer, which was adapted for several successful stage productions, and has been in print since 1983.
Born in Edmonton, Alberta, Bruce Powe served overseas in the Canadian army and received an M.A. in economics from the University of Alberta. His succession of jobs in journalism , government, politics, advertising, PR, and the corporate world offer fertile ground for his fiction.
