When the Lion Feeds was published by William Heinemann in 1964. Wilbur Smith was thirty-one, working as a tax accountant in Salisbury, Rhodesia (now Harare, Zimbabwe), when the novel was accepted — his first published work after years of rejections. The book begins the Dobie family saga that would eventually span fourteen novels and four centuries of African history.
Sean and Garrick Dobie are twin brothers growing up on a cattle ranch in colonial Natal in the 1870s. Sean is everything Garrick is not: physically fearless, socially commanding, instinctively violent. A hunting accident costs Garrick his leg, and from this point the brothers’ fates diverge. Sean goes to war (the Zulu War of 1879), then to the gold fields of the Witwatersrand during the rush of the early 1890s. Garrick stays home, marries the woman Sean loved, and builds a quiet life.
The novel established Smith’s formula: historical sweep, detailed African landscapes, male violence rendered with visceral immediacy, romance that is frank by the standards of the 1960s, and a protagonist defined by physical courage and appetites. Smith knew Africa from the inside — raised in Zambia, educated in South Africa, a hunter and outdoorsman — and his descriptions of bush, veldt, and the rhythms of African life have an authenticity that distinguishes him from other adventure novelists.
Collecting When the Lion Feeds
First edition (William Heinemann, London, 1964): Blue cloth with dust jacket.
Market values:
- First edition, fine/fine: $500–$1,500
- Very good/very good: $200–$500
- US first (Viking): $100–$300
Projected values (2026–2036): Strong appreciation. As Smith’s debut novel and a landmark of African adventure fiction, first editions will become increasingly scarce.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is When the Lion Feeds autobiographical? Partly. Like Sean Dobie, Smith grew up in what was then Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) among the farming and mining communities of central Africa. The landscape, wildlife, and colonial culture are drawn from Smith’s own experience, though the Zulu War setting is historical.
What is the Dobie family reading order? When the Lion Feeds (1964), The Sound of Thunder (1966), A Sparrow Falls (1977). The trilogy follows the Dobie family from the Zulu War through the Boer War and into the First World War.