My amazing friend, writer Pat Brogan, PhD, gets a huge thank-you for helping me do the eyeball recon, decipher Andalusian dialect, and work out the scenes in Tenerife, Palma, Cadiz, and Sevilla.
Thank you to my multinational shipmates aboard the M/V Opera who became wonderful friends and made every day enjoyable. See guys, I really was writing a book!
Anecdotal information on the Royal Marine Light Infantry was graciously given to me by Lt. Peter Sharp Allen RMLI, (WWII), of Great Britain. It is an honor to call him friend.
In Italy, Oswaldo Balicco helped me in Santa Margherita, and Minnesota’s Catherine Rose motivated me (and therefore Peter Wake) to climb that damn cliff to the castle at Porto Fino. Mille grazie.
Casablanca, Morocco—that chaotic and intriguing crossroads of Africa, Arabia, and France—is the home of Mourad Djelleb, who knows everyone, and Ouaziz Mostafa, who can arrange anything. Bogart would’ve loved these guys. Merci pour l’ assistance, mes amis.
Shukran bezzef to El Harras Hassan, who took me into the secretive labyrinth of the medina in Fez, where it’s still the year 1059 a.d. Someday I will be back, ensha’llaah.
A sincere shukran to some other impressive men in that part of the world who helped me: Historian Noureddine Mrani in Meknes, Sidi Mabab Abdul at His Royal Highness King Mohammed VI’s palace in Rabat, Mawad Mohammed in the Kasbah of Rabat, and Elouane Aziz in the medina of Marrakech.
Sidi Goudimi Ahmed helped tremendously with Moroccan history, language, and culture. Shukran bezzef, sahbi.
This trek involved daunting logistics in Europe and Africa—but Teresa Lioce of Pine Island Travel planned and implemented them all with calm efficiency. If you’re heading out into the unknown, she’s the one you want to plan your op. Well done, Terri.
The fascinating celestial information was a treasure discovered by the lovely Nancy Glickman, gifted astronomer and dearest of friends, who patiently explained it all to me. She amazes me. Latin phraseology was provided by Michelle Glickman, 13-year-old Florida State Latin Champion, and her dad, Ron. Father Bill Loughran, Jesuit Vatican linguist, helped on Italian, Latin, and Church hierarchy.
I was graciously assisted in the Paris balloon information by none other than Julian Nott of Great Britain, the premier authority on ballooning in the world, and LTC Mike Woodgerd, US Army, the lighter-than-air expert for the DoD. In addition, Mike entered the title contest for this novel and beat out 376 other entries from around the world, gaining him the role of a character in the book.
I was given additional understanding of Montague Yeats-Brown by Mr. Abe Marrache of England, an accomplished writer who is married to a descendant of that remarkable diplomat.
French culture and language was explained with gentle patience by Denise Couturier. Merci beaucoup, ma cherie. En avant et ascendant!
A sincere thank-you goes to June Cussen, a writer’s dream editor; to Randy White, the premier novelist of Florida and my mentor; and to the other members of the Parrot Hillian Writers Circle: KDN Wehrle, the best critical reader in the world; Roothee Gabay, spirited novelist; and Sheba the Wonder Dog (RIP).
Peter Wake has a support crew in the islands where I live that all sailors would envy: Punkee Moe, Bill and Patti Standing, Annie Wenz and Larry French, Randy and Chris Briggs, Marianne Paton, the Yard Dogs, and Marc and Chris Strom.
To my readers around the world, thank you for your wonderful enthusiasm and support. You keep me motivated and strong.
Onward and upward!
Bob Macomber
Serenity Bungalow
Matlacha Island
Florida
Author’s Postscript
The swirling international political climate portrayed in this novel is accurate. Bismarck, Moltke, Verdi, Garibaldi, Gladstone, Disraeli, Sultan Hassan, Grant, Commander Jackie Fisher, and Admirals Drummond, Geaugeard, and Case were all real. As Wake’s career progresses so will theirs, and he will run into some of them again.
The ships of the U.S. and Royal navies in the book were real, as was RMS Trinidad. Weapons described were real, from the Whitehead and Howell torpedoes to the Gras rifles. The race for torpedo technology was very serious during this period.
Descriptions of the locales in the West Indies, Europe, and Morocco were taken from my personal experiences. The description of the memorable sunset transit through the Straits of Gibraltar is from my voyage.
The Mt. Pelée volcano at St. Pierre on Martinique finally did explode on 8 May 1902, killing 29,000 people—everyone in the city except one prisoner in the jail.
The African cobra test of manhood is only too real—I went through it at Djemma el-Fna in Marrakech. Never do this.
The celestial events depicted in the novel were real. Jupiter emerged from behind the moon in late April 1874, easily seen from Morocco and appearing as if it had emerged from inside the moon. The comet described at the end of the novel was real and spectacular. Comet Coggia (Comet C/1874 H1) stunned the astronomic community in 1874. Islamic astronomers were some of the world’s very best prior to Europe’s surge in telescopic technology.
I did my best to present the foreign languages (Spanish, French, Italian, Latin, and Arabic) accurately in both flavor and fact. Any errors in translation are unintentional and mine.
The mercenary in the novel, Colonel Michael Woodgerd, does not reflect the attitude or actions of the real LTC Mike Woodgerd (USMA), who won the title contest and so became a character. The literary Woodgerd would cringe at some of the adventures of the real Woodgerd.
Sevilla, Porto Fino, and Morocco are fascinating places that my soul aches to experience again. I will. And I urge my readers to visit them also.
I hope readers of this novel will gain an understanding that the three great faiths of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are inter-related, and that fanatics are not representative of any of these religions. It is my fervent hope that one day we will all start celebrating our similarities and stop dwelling on our differences.
Peace…
Bob Macomber
Key West
Florida
About the Author
Robert N. Macomber is an internationally recognized maritime expert who has won awards for his literary work and been named
