Alan Landau

I live in Brisbane, Australia, but spent most of my life in Zimbabwe (formally Rhodesia). As a small boy, my father would tell me stories about the original family that came out to Africa in 1891. They were just two young brothers (eventually four brothers). I found the tales fascinating, but... they were of no significance to me - I was too young to appreciate these stories. And so it happened, when I was in my 30s, my Dad would remind me of a story, and I had no idea what he was talking about. It was only in later life that I began to understand the relevance and significance of these stories, but by then my Dad was starting to forget things. Fortunately, I worked with Dad most of my life, and would often pick his brains and gather written material about these events. Later, when I would tell my children, the same thing happened - they would forget, because, in reality, what 15 year old is interested in the life of a young boy who lived 125 years ago? So, I decided to write about these young brothers, but as a novel, giving the brothers the same characters, personalities and nuances they had, and blending in the historical events that shaped their destiny. Because I spent many years in the African bush, I also included stories about the wildlife, birdlife, flora and fauna of my old home country. The result, a fascinating, sometimes unbelievable story, set in a series of five books, telling the tale of two remarkable young boys in an equally remarkable continent. Recently I discovered that three of my books reached the Amazon Australia #1 Best Seller list in the category of 'African Dramas and Plays', with all five in the Top 10 at one stage. (My first book, 'Langbourne', recently reached #2 Best Seller in the 'Southern Africa History' category behind Nelson Mandela's 'Long Walk to Freedom' at #1. It was a personal honour to be listed beside that great man's book.) My key objective was to keep the story of Morris, David, Louis and Harry Langbourne alive for future generations, in a way that my readers would re-live and enjoy their experiences in a time long forgotten. I believe I have achieved that objective. Alan Landau