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.
“A solid historical whodunit with a great plot… The historical background is excellent, and Powe makes great use of his first-hand knowledge of the period and his extensive research into the events. A terrific novel, and not just for history buffs.”
The Globe and Mail
ALDERSHOT 1945
Bruce Allen Powe, author of the much loved classic novel The Aberhart Summer, reaches back to his wartime experiences for this tale of murder set against a tapestry of scandal and chaos.
In July 1945, restless, war weary Canadian troops were stationed in Aldershot England, awaiting transport home to the Pacific front. Subsumed in boredom and longing, they watched newsreels that showed American soldiers getting first passage on troop ships. The Canadians went crazy and tore up the town.
Amid the turmoil, a Canadian army officer, Lt. Col. Ambrose Wellesley, is shot between the eyes while he is sitting at his desk. The last person to see him alive was the beautiful Claire Evans, his clerk and, secretly, his lover. Two detectives investigate the case: Tim Bollock, for Scotland Yard, and Canadian officer Hugh Horobbins.
The detectives delve into the complex life and dealings of Ambrose Wellesley, a charismatic rogue with a hideaway in London and a taste for fancy wines and fine clothes. Wellesley was high spirited and callous: he outfitted an ambulance as a mobile pleasure palace and brothel.
It is Wellesley, even in death, who commands our attention as the detectives uncover his ingenious and extensive black market trade in smuggled army supplies and medicines. There is a court martial – the murderer is sentenced to death – and a surprise ending.
On one level, the novel resembles a period piece Law and Order. But in his clear, authentic voice, Bruce Powe adds other dimensions. We meet the lonely soldiers who’ve fallen in love with local English women, only to be jilted when their husbands come home from overseas.
We feel the simmering rage, dislocation, disconnection, and violence which erupt in frustration. And there are strange alliances bred in alien soil.
