title: The Horus Heresy

text: "Scars" is the first book that centers on the White Scars. The White Scars have not yet received news of the civil war waging across the Imperium. For the past two years, the legion has been cleansing the Chondax System of an Ork infestation. Because of the artificial warp storms created by the Alpha Legion, the Chondax system has been completely cut off from all communication. With the destruction of the device responsible for maintaining the warp storms (as detailed in the short story, The Serpent Beneath, found in Book 20), the White Scars begin to receive a flood of conflicting information. Some reports say that Leman Russ has turned traitor and killed Magnus on Prospero. Other reports indicate that Horus has turned against the Emperor. Perhaps most consequentially, the White Scars receive a distress call from the Space Wolves, who are under attack from the Alpha Legion. Not knowing what to believe, the Khan orders the White Scars to Prospero in a search for answers, leaving the Space Wolves to fend for themselves. Meanwhile, the warrior lodges embedded within the White Scars activate, intending to force the Khan into declaring for Horus. The book centers around the Khan's decision of which side to join: his traitor friend and brother, or his lying, tyrant father.


title: The Horus Heresy

text: Sometime after the creation of the Ruinstorm (Book 24), Horus conquers the world of Dwell. There, he learns a secret about the Emperor: long ago, at the start of humanity's great diaspora to the stars, the Emperor travelled to a planet called Molech. There, the Emperor made a bargain with the Chaos Gods for power and knowledge. With this power, the Emperor became a god; with this knowledge, he created the primarchs. After obtaining this power and knowledge from the Gods, however, the Emperor broke the bargains he made with them. Seeking this power for himself, Horus enlists Mortarion (after facing Jaghatai in Book 28) and Fulgrim (after his ascension to deamonhood in Book 23) to help him retrace the Emperor's steps on Molech. Meanwhile, Gavriel Loken is charged by Malcador to infiltrate Horus’ flagship, the "Vengeful Spirit", to prepare the way for an assassination attempt on Horus by Leman Russ. Loken leads a band of Malcador's Knights Errant to the ship and reconnoiters the interior, marking the passageways in futharc, the Space Wolves' runes, for Russ’ eventual assassination attempt. Ultimately, the Knights Errants are discovered and confronted by the Sons of Horus. Many of the Knights Errants are slain but some escape and survive, including Loken. Molech is eventually conquered with the aid of the treacherous Knight House Devine, which has pledged itself to Slaanesh. While campaigning, Horus learns of a gateway to the Warp that was created and used by the Emperor to meet with the Chaos Gods in their own domain. As Horus searches for the gateway, a perpetual named Alivia Sureka races to seal it shut forever. Ultimately, she fails and Horus breaches the gateway. Although he is gone from the material realm for mere moments, centuries pass for Horus in the immaterium. In those centuries, Horus won a thousand kingdoms in the empyrean, defied the gods, slayed monsters, and denied every prize offered to him. He claimed the power that the Emperor had claimed, but without deception, without bargaining, and without any promise to honour. Returning to the material realm, Horus is now a god of his own making, beholden to no one. Ready at last to face the Emperor, he issues the order to march on Terra itself.


title: The Horus Heresy

text: "The Damnation of Pythos" occurs shortly after the Dropsite Massacre on Isstvan V. Remnants of the Shattered Legions (Iron Hands, Raven Guard, Salamanders) escape Isstvan and stumble upon the Pandorax System. One of the system's worlds, the death world of Pythos, is the source of a warp anomaly of great significance. The Shattered Legions decide to use it to strike back at the Traitor Legions. To do so, they must navigate the treacherous death world itself, the Ruinstorm trapping them in Pandorax, and their responsibility to the colonists and refugees that find their way to Pythos. Ultimately, the powerful daemon Madail manifests. In turn, Madail summons armies of deamons to the material realm. The planet falls to the daemons, who construct daemon starships from the remnants of the Shattered Legions' vessels. Although the Shattered Legions were able to send a one-word message to Terra as a warning before they were wiped out, the message is ignored by the Administratum.


title: The Horus Heresy

text: After a seemingly miraculous rescue by the Ultramarines, Artellus Numeon, once captain of the Pyre Guard, urges the Salamanders on Macragge to depart Imperium Secundus and return their primarch's (seemingly deceased) body to the home world of Nocturne — there to attempt his resurrection in the fires of Mount Deathfire. But to do so they must brave the madness of the Ruinstorm, and Numeon has to decide what has to be done to bring Vulkan back from the grave...


title: The Horus Heresy

text: With the Ruinstorm unabating, Imperium Secundus stands as a lone beacon of hope for the Eastern Fringe even as Horus's galactic war continues to rage. At the centre of this endeavour, the mysterious Mount Pharos on Sotha holds the key to Secundus' success. But the cruel and slowly-changing Night Lords make ready to launch their long-planned attack on the Pharos itself, and the tormented Konrad Curze makes moves to confront his brother the Emperor Sanguinius. The resulting battles could lead to dark consequences for all life in the galaxy...


title: The Horus Heresy

text: Following the events of "Scars" (Book 28), four years have passed and the White Scars are fully committed to fighting the Traitor Legions as they begin their march to Terra. But they have been slowly and surely hemmed in by burgeoning Warp Storms and the might of four legions deep in the galactic north. Caught betweens this opposition and the internal psychological damages his legion is suffering from attrition warfare, Jagathai Khan and his allies turn their efforts to uncovering another path to Terra, one that unearths secrets of the divided Navis Nobilite and the Emperor Himself. But the much-changed Emperor's Children under a resurrected & mutated Eidolon and the growing darkness of the Death Guard under Mortarion are hot on their heels, and to open the Path of Heaven not all will see the Heresy to the end...


title: The Horus Heresy

text: "Angels of Caliban" tells the story of The Lion's hunt to find his brother Primarch of the Night Lords Conrad Curze across the 500 worlds of Ultramar whilst juggling the responsibilities of being the Lord Protector of Imperium Secundus. Simultaneously, the ever-deepening divide of Luther from the first legion takes shape in the book, with definitive decisions being made that will permanently shape the future of The Order and life on Caliban, outside of the watchful eye of Terra and The Lion.


title: The Horus Heresy

text: Rogal Dorn and the VIIth Legion have been stationed on Terra since the beginning of Horus' betrayal, tasked with securing a fractious Solar System and Terra in preparation for the inevitable assault. Now, the Solar System comes under attack for the first time since the war began by the Alpha Legion, and many of the seemingly impregnable defences wrought by the Imperial Fists prove inadequate. With all eyes fixed firmly upon this new threat beyond the gates of Terra, Dorn must prepare for a fight that will test him to the limit, and force him to confront the prices that will need to be paid and the allies he needs if he is to hold Terra unto the end.


title: The Horus Heresy

text: A collection of short stories and novellas that document and detail Corax's bitter guerilla war against the Traitors following the Dropsite Massacre and the Battle of Ravendelve, and his desperate attempts to hold his legion together. But none shall emerge from the Heresy unscathed, and for the Raptors a tragic fate awaits...


title: The Horus Heresy

text: While Horus’ rebellion burns across the galaxy, a very different kind of war rages beneath the Imperial Palace. The Emperor of Mankind, alongside the ‘Ten Thousand’ Custodian Guard, the Sisters of Silence and the Mechanicum forces of Fabricator General Kane, fight to control the nexus points of the ancient eldar webway that lie closest to Terra, now infested by daemonic entities after Magnus the Red's intrusion. But with traitor legionaries and corrupted Battle Titans now counted among the forces of Chaos, and a malevolent entity of the Warp circling the field, the noose around the Throneworld is slowly tightening. And for the Emperor, He must confront His enigmatic past and ultimately decide whether to hold onto His failing dream, or accept the Age of Darkness that He had a hand in bringing forth to the Imperium.


title: The Horus Heresy

text: A connected anthology of short stories that focuses on Garro following the Flight of the Eisenstein (Book 4) during the Silent War. Now a Knight Errant and Agentia Primus of Malcador the Sigillite, Garro is sent on a number of clandestine missions from the desolations of Calth and Isstvan to the halls of the Imperial Palace itself. Incidentally, Garro is also walking a path of his own, one that leads him to both the secrets of Malcador's 'Othrys' project and the growing Lecticio Divinitatus cult, and to question his own place in the Imperium both in the current civil war and what might emerge when it is over.


title: The Horus Heresy

text: Following the razing of Prospero, Magnus the Red now refuges on the aptly unnamed Planet of the Sorcerers, deep within the Eye of Terror. the remnants of the Thousand Sons Legion realise that Magnus was effectively shattered following his fight with Russ – his mind and memories are slipping away into the tumult of the warp. In desperation, Ahzek and Amon (and a very unwilling Lucius) travel to the scenes of Magnus' greatest triumphs and tragedies in hope to restore him once more. But to do so, they must confront hunters of both the Space Wolves and the Knights Errant, along with their own internal strife of the returning flesh change and the decision of whether to join Horus to besiege Terra.


title: The Horus Heresy

text: Following their escape from the Eye of Terror (as detailed in "Angel Exterminatus" and "Black Oculus"), Perturabo and the Iron Warriors Legion unleash hell on the verdant world of Tallarn, reducing it to a wasteland even as the largest armoured conflict in the Heresy is enacted on its surface. But Perturabo has more in mind than simple punitive destruction – and his growing curiosity into the powers that enacted Fulgrim's ascencion will draw ire from both his adversaries on the stricken planet, and his allies in the Host of the Warmaster...


title: The Horus Heresy

text: This book is a collected Anthology of Short Stories and Novellas released over the course of the series:


title: The Horus Heresy

text: Roboute Guilliman, Lion'El Johnson, and Sanguinius have abandoned the Imperium Secundus and make for Terra, bringing the prisoner Konrad Curze along. Doing so, however, requires them to traverse the Ruinstorm, a raging warp storm which makes passage all but impossible. The three primarchs each face their own temptations and trials throughout the journey through warp, both physical and spiritual. Epic, solar-system sized obstacles situated in both realspace and warpspace prevent their passage, and the three legions must work together to overcome each one. The story's climax centers on Chaos Undivided's attempt to turn Sanguinius to their will. The demon lord Madail presents an unthinkable ultimatum to the Angel. In the throes of his temptation, Sanguinius is burdened with foreknowledge which obscures the righteous path, and the final fate of Konrad Curze.


title: The Horus Heresy

text: "Old Earth" tells the story of the newly resurrected Vulkan, who is compelled to leave his homeworld and his legion behind and return to fulfill his destiny at Terra. To break through the ruinstorm, which is keeping the throneworld inaccessible via the warp, he must make use of ancient Eldar pathways, where humans are not welcome. En route he seeks aid from Shadrak Meduson and the Iron Tenth, who continue to harass the traitorous Sons of Horus with guerrilla tactics. But Shadrak is facing internal resistance to his attempts to revitalise the Iron Hands, while at the same time seeking a showdown with his nemesis Tybalt Marr.


title: The Horus Heresy

text: Leman Russ, following the disasters of Prospero and the Allaaxes Nebula, departs Terra (just as Sanguinius arrives following the events of Ruinstorm) in order to punish his traitorous brother Horus. But in order to be ready to confront his much-changed brother, Leman needs to journey into the depths of his homeworld, and come to terms with the burdens of his duty as the Emperors' Executioner, his Spear that never wants to leave his side, and the realities of his nature as a Primarch. Following that, a death-or-glory assault on Horus' vanguard fleet at the gates of the Segmentum Solar awaits, and for the Lord of Winter and War, a faint, fleeting hope that not all of Horus Lupercal is lost to Chaos...


title: The Horus Heresy

text: With the conquest of the Beta Garmon system, the traitors are at last close upon Terra. However, Horus' injury back in Wolfsbane reopens, leaving the internal divisions of the now-barbaric Sons of Horus to yawn wide. While Mortarion is sent on ahead as the fleet's vanguard, it falls to Lorgar and Perturabo to marshal Fulgrim and Angron, both now elevated to daemonhood and beyond even the will of the Warmaster to command. With Guilliman and the Lion returning with all haste, and with Chaos working against them, Maloghurst has to find the means to hold his fractious Legion together and wrench Horus himself from the edge of oblivion by any means necessary. For the greatest battle the galaxy has ever known looms, and hosts of the Warmaster must unite at Ullanor, for only together can the Siege of Terra truly begin.


title: The Horus Heresy

text: Set between "Wolfsbane" and "Slaves to Darkness", Titandeath expands on the epic struggles of the Titan Legions in the Beta-Garmon Cluster, the so-called Gate of Terra. With the Ruinstorm fading, With Horus leading the campaign, it's only a matter of time until the system falls, despite the presence of Sanguinius and Jagathai Khan. But the Traitor Titan Legions are becoming corrupted by Chaos, and it soon becomes apparent that even Horus is not immune to its malignant predations. Also expands on the nature of the Titan Legions, the princeps and their beliefs in the Omnissah.


title: The Horus Heresy

text: "The Buried Dagger" is set immediately before the events of the Siege of Terra, and follows the Perspective of the "Death Guard" Legion. The book is divided into three distinct parts, the first is the narration of Mortarion, Primarch of the Death Guard, about his childhood on Barbarus, a planet with a toxic atmosphere and ruled by tyrannical warlords, and his attempt to liberate its people, culminating with meeting the Emperor, who kills the last Warlord, as Mortarion risks finally succumbing to the poisonous atmosphere. The second part, however, is set prior to the Siege of Terra, and follows Mortarion and the Death Guard slowly succumbing to debilitating diseases as their ships malfunction in a journey through the Warp. It is revealed at the end that Typhus, who Mortarion had known since Barbarus, had sabotaged the systems to become favoured of the Plague God Nurgle. This part of the story ends with a mirror of the first, as Mortarion swears loyalty to Nurgle, before he succumbs to the diseases that would otherwise condemn him to undeath. The third part of the story is largely unrelated to the Death Guard, and follows Garviel Loken and Nathaniel Garro, alongside several other characters, as they form the Grey Knights Chapter of Space Marines upon the eve of the Siege of Terra.


title: The Horus Heresy

text: The Siege of Terra commences with the colossal void war between the Traitors and the Loyalists in the Solar System, and to break through Dorn's walls across the planets and moons Horus will have to conduct strategies both standard and soul-churning to reach Terra on time. Admist the fighting, former remembrancer Mersadie Oliton desperately searches for a way back to Terra, a disgraced Sigismund seeks atonement through battle, Abaddon cleaves out a path laid out for him by both his primarch and darker powers, and Ahriman prepares a ritual that might determine the success of the Traitors. And above all these stories and struggles, in the plane of the Warp, an old man looks at the fading fire of his dream as wolves and worse begin to circle...


title: The Horus Heresy

text: With the Solar System now in Horus' clutches, the bombardment of Terra begins. But in order to reach the walls, Horus must contend with the ground defences and bastions outside the Palace, as well as the self-sustaining void-shield of the Aegis. An immense ground war follows, where the front lines quickly devolve into a hellish nightmare and the daemonic abilities of the ascended Mortarion and Angron slowly grind away at the defences. But more than the Walls and the Loyalist Primarchs are needed to be tackled to gain entry, and Abaddon has to contend with the divisions to the Traitor forces while Horus continues his psychic assault upon the Emperor even as his body is being slowly consumed by Chaos. On the other side of the Walls, the Loyalists are confronted by the issues of refugees, embattled defences, the malefic use of the Warp and having to prepare to make hard choices in the ensuing Siege. Thankfully, Guilliman is coming, but is he going to make it in time?


title: The Horus Heresy

text: With the outer defences now fallen, Horus has two new tasks: claim the Lion's Gate Spaceport from the Imperial Fists, and get the Daemonic Neverborn of Chaos on Terra. The former task he orders Perturabo and the Iron Warriors to complete, the latter to his personal Dark Apostle Zardu Layak. But neither task is going to be easy to complete for either, and both will have to make hard choices to overcome the First Wall. But Dorn has a plan to counter the Traitors if that happens. Unfortunately, so does Horus...


title: The Horus Heresy

text: With battle now joined in earnest, the Traitors under the command of Perturabo begin to look for ways to breach the outer wall of the Imperial Palace. Rogal Dorn on the other hand must begin to make hard choices to keep the palace secure until Roboute arrives, and in opposition to his growing desperation creates an order of scholars to document (and conceal if necessary) the history of the civil war. A multi-dimensional chess game between both side ensues for a weakened section of the wall (designated Saturnine) that will decide whether the palace will continue to hold, or fall with a single stroke. But not all is bound to the Siege, and in the depths of the Palace and far beyond it, secrets and lies are brought to light...


title: The Horus Heresy

text: The Palace holds, but with the Lion's Gate & Eternity Gate Spaceports in his hands, Horus unleashes the Legio Mortis Titans upon Terra. The continued fighting also allows the powers of Chaos to wax, dragging defenders into a quagmire of despair and desperately seek out false paradises that are far worse than death. With the Traitor Titans and the Loyalist Legio Ignatum set on a collision course at Mercury Wall and a sealed order from the Emperor given to Rogal, outside the Palace Paladin Corswain of the Dark Angels must make a desperate ploy that might change the course of the Siege, and the Perpetual Ollanius Persson must journey through the tortured insanity of the warp and his own memories if he and his allies are to reach Terra and his unknown future...


title: The Horus Heresy

text: As the Palace defenses continue to weaken both physically and metaphysically, Jaghatai Khan makes a dangerous gambit to retake the Lion's Gate spaceport from a mutated Mortarion and the now-fully corrupted Death Guard. Meanwhile, those inside the walls face their own set of challenges – Dorn struggles with the continued burden of strategy, Sigismund finds the path that will herald a new breed of warriors, Keeler finds a new (and much darker) perspective for the hope of the Imperium, and an internally conflicted Valdor goes on the hunt.


title: The Horus Heresy

text: Lion's Gate Spaceport is retaken, but the majority of the Palace and Terra has now fallen to the Traitors. Angron, Daemon Primarch of the World Eaters and now-Herald of Horus following Mortarion spearheads the carnage though the fire and ash of Terra's dying breaths. In the wake of the Red Angel and the armies of the damned, Chaos is preparing to change Terra into an image more to its liking (and less to the Loyalists' sanity). With the Khan on the edge of death, Dorn beleaguered at Bhab Bastion, and Guilliman (seemingly) not going to make it in time, it falls to Sanguinius – fated-to-die Angel of the Ninth Legion – to rally the defenders and refugees for one more stand at the Delphic Battlement, the very walls of the Sanctum Imperialis, and paint the golden Eternity Gate blood red if he must if it means the Traitors shall not pass.


title: The Horus Heresy

text: The Emperor and his remaining protectors prepare to confront the Warmaster in the final battle to determine the fate of Terra and all Mankind.


title: The Horus Heresy

text: Series titles are released in multiple versions: in print as paperbacks and hardcovers (with paperback editions printed in mass-market and trade formats); as e-books; and as either abridged or unabridged audiobooks and e‑audiobooks (respectively, in compact disc and audio file formats the Black Library has partnered with specialist UK company Heavy Entertainment for audio production).


title: The Horus Heresy

text: , print editions were generally though some mass market versions have rendered in more; total series length in first paperback edition was about (24 titles). Digital editions ranged in size from less than a megabyte (some e‑book releases) to over a gigabyte (some e‑audiobook releases); the totals run from a low of about 10 MB (for titles, in EPUB format) to a high of about 11 GB (for 13 unabridged titles, in MP3 format). Durations of audio versions spread from about 6 hours for the abridged editions to anywhere between for the unabridged editions; the total length of the unabridged edition was about 168 hours, divided among 13 titles. CD audiobooks were published in packages of 5 discs per abridged title; two unabridged titles were available on CD, with the longest packaged in 13 discs.


title: The Horus Heresy

text: Outside the UK, series titles are published in several countries and languages by Black Library divisions or as co-editions with local associates. , other-language renditions lagged the English-language series in the number of released titles, and had followed distinct publication schedules and release sequences. Also , editions in other languages were published in paperback and e‑book formats.


title: The Horus Heresy

text: Starting November 2010, new titles have often been released simultaneously in multiple media; occasionally since then, new titles' digital or audio releases have preceded the print versions, in reverse of previous practice (see table "Published" above). Stories in series compilations have also been published individually, as e‑books, and as MP3 or CD "audio shorts".


title: The Horus Heresy

text: Series stories have appeared in whole or in part in other Black Library publications, sometimes before the corresponding series books have become generally available; prepublications have included stand-alone releases of compilation stories. "Prerelease" copies of series volumes have been regularly offered months before official publication, in Games Workshop- and Black Library‑sponsored events such as the various Games Days.


title: The Horus Heresy

text: There have been a number of special editions and bundles published in a variety of media; bundles have included the "Horus Heresy Collections", which mix editions and media of the same or different titles. Certain special editions are available in limited distribution months before the release of the corresponding regular, or wider-release, versions.


title: The Horus Heresy

text: The books' cover art has been separately released, in poster and other formats. Series bundles and special offers have also contained the separate artwork releases of the included titles.


title: The Horus Heresy

text: English-language series releases include publishing of the titles in special "premium" editions: "Premium Hardback" (print) and "Enhanced Ebook" (digital). These versions contain additional material and artwork, and are published several months before their general-availability or regular edition counterparts. The first title to appear in "premium" editions, in October 2012, was "Angel Exterminatus" (Book 23). The earlier catalogue of the series is also republished in these editions, again beginning October 2012 with the series-opening novel trilogy.


title: The Horus Heresy

text: Several novels in "The Horus Heresy" series have appeared in UK and US science fiction charts, have occupied high positions in Nielsen BookScan genre lists, and since early 2010 have often charted in The New York Times Bestseller List for mass-market paperbacks.


title: The Horus Heresy

text: Critical reception of individual titles has been mixed, yet the general tone of reviews has been mostly positive. Although the series overall has been viewed favourably, there have been complaints about its length, the multitude of characters and narrative threads, and the timeline jumps or repetitions caused by the nonlinear storytelling. The evolving series is said to have gradually acquired a backstory and terminology of its own; this has led reviewers to question the accessibility of individual stories to new or casual readers.


title: The Horus Heresy

text: Early in its publishing history, the series became a sales success in its category. "Horus Rising" by Dan Abnett, the opening title, set the pace shortly after its release, topping "Locus" magazine's "Locus Bestsellers: Gaming-Related" list of August 2006; practically every title in the series had achieved the same or similar performance on this chart. "Horus Rising"s January 2011 CD audiobook release also appeared in ranked sales lists: the (abridged) edition was number 15 in a related chart published by "The Bookseller", covering 2011 UK sales up to September.


title: The Horus Heresy

text: "Legion" by Abnett, and "Battle for the Abyss" by Ben Counter, were listed in Nielsen BookScan's list of top‑20 fictional works by small publishers for the year ending 23 August 2008; the books appeared in eighth and sixteenth place respectively. The next published title, "Mechanicum" by Graham McNeill, entered "The Bookseller"s "Top 20 Fiction Heatseekers" chart of 5 December 2008, shortly after its release, at number 10; series titles have consistently appeared in this list.


title: The Horus Heresy

text: "A Thousand Sons" by McNeill was released in February 2010 and arrived at number 22 on The New York Times Bestseller List, the first ever novel on the Black Library imprint to do so. "Nemesis" by James Swallow followed, reaching number 26 on the List in August 2010. "The First Heretic", by Aaron Dembski‑Bowden, reached number 28 in the weekly chart in November 2010 and stayed on the List for a second week, at number 33. Abnett's "Prospero Burns" was next, reaching number 16 in January 2011; this title also topped a science fiction and fantasy book chart published by "The Times" (London) in March of the same year.


title: The Horus Heresy

text: The compilation "Age of Darkness", edited by Christian Dunn, also entered The New York Times Best Sellers List, in May 2011, at number 31. Book 19, "Know No Fear", again by Abnett, continued the trend: it appeared at number 21 in March 2012. It was followed on the List by the next series title, "The Primarchs", a compilation edited by Dunn, which occupied position 29 during the week of 17 June 2012; in addition, "The Primarchs" had placed first in "Publishers Weekly" science fiction bestsellers listing for the week of 28 May 2012. In September 2012 "Fear to Tread" by Swallow entered The New York Times Best Sellers List at number 13, at the time the highest entry on that chart for a series novel; the book remained on the List the week after (week of September 23), at number 33.


title: The Horus Heresy

text: Between the late–1980s introduction of the Horus Heresy and the start of this series publication in 2006, Games Workshop and affiliates released -branded products that expanded the concept's standing as "Warhammer 40,000" background material. The release of such works, which include literature independent of this series, continued ; the works may relate to it as prequels, sequels, or expansions of its stories.


title: The Horus Heresy

text: Pre-series Horus Heresy literature and other related works may have been superseded or rendered obsolete, while other similar material may no longer be authoritative even as it remains in Horus Heresy and "Warhammer 40,000" canons; still other non-series Horus Heresy material has been eventually incorporated into the work.


title: The Horus Heresy

text: A significant development was the 2012 initial release of the "Horus Heresy" miniatures wargame expansion, which repositioned the concept as a foreground element within the "Warhammer 40,000" gaming system while highlighting the importance of the Horus Heresy to Games Workshop's product lineup and the related universe. The expansion is reputedly developed in coordination with the book series, and includes new material and information about the Horus Heresy and the fictional universe; it joins the series and other works as an authoritative source of Heresy material and "Warhammer 40,000" background.


title: The Horus Heresy

text: The Black Library and Games Workshop have released novels, game rulebooks, and other products not branded or classified as "Horus Heresy", yet directly relating to story arcs or events described in the series. An example is listed in the section below.


title: The Horus Heresy

text: <poem>References may include multiple versions of cited works, published in alternate formats or media: these versions appear consecutively, are separated by a double semicolon , and are listed by full date of release in ascending order (displayed date may be truncated); where applicable they are sub-listed by media type, in alphabetical order. In such references, information common to listed versions may appear in a single instance only.


title: The Horus Heresy

text: Where "originally published" appears in entries for standalone or self-contained works (including compilations), it refers to the work's first release in the indicated media type.


title: Bone Tomahawk

text: Bone Tomahawk is a 2015 American Western film written and directed by S. Craig Zahler in his directorial debut. It stars Kurt Russell, Patrick Wilson, Matthew Fox, Richard Jenkins, Lili Simmons, Evan Jonigkeit, David Arquette, and Sid Haig and was produced by Jack Heller and Dallas Sonnier. The film is about a small-town sheriff who leads a posse into a desolate region to rescue three people who were abducted by a cannibalistic Native American clan.


title: Bone Tomahawk

text: Development of the film started when Zahler's friend and manager Dallas Sonnier recommended to create a film adaptation of Zahler's Western novel "Wraiths of a Broken Land". Realizing that such a project could not be adapted on a low budget, Zahler opted to write a rescue Western instead. Casting began in October 2014, with Peter Sarsgaard, Timothy Olyphant, and Jennifer Carpenter signed on to play before being replaced by Wilson, Fox, and Simmons respectively due to scheduling conflicts. Principal photography took place in California over a course of 21 days in October 2014.


title: Bone Tomahawk

text: The premiere of "Bone Tomahawk" took place at Fantastic Fest on October 1, 2015 and was given a limited release on October 23 by RLJ Entertainment, grossing over $480,000 in theater sales and $4.32 million in home media sales against a $1.8 million budget. The film received mainly positive reviews, with praise for Zahler's screenplay and direction and the performances of the ensemble cast, though its runtime was criticized.


title: Bone Tomahawk

text: In the 1890s, brigands Purvis and Buddy encounter a Native American burial site. They are ambushed and Buddy is killed while Purvis escapes. Purvis reaches the nearby town of Bright Hope and buries his loot. Deputy Chicory reports him to Sheriff Franklin Hunt, who shoots Purvis in the leg when he attempts to escape. Hunt sends the confident gunslinger John Brooder to fetch the town's doctor, but ends up fetching Samantha O'Dwyer, the doctor's daughter and assistant, who is caring for her injured husband Arthur. Hunt leaves Samantha in the sheriff's office with his other deputy Nick to tend to Purvis' wounds. That night, a nearby stable boy is killed.


title: Bone Tomahawk

text: Hunt learns of the murder and goes to his office finding it empty, with an arrow left behind. The Professor, an educated Native American, links the arrow to a tribe that he refers to as "Troglodytes" and locates the valley they inhabit on a map, warning Hunt that they are a group of inbred cannibals shunned and avoided by other native tribes. Certain that Samantha, Nick, and Purvis have been captured by them, Hunt forms a rescue party with Chicory and Brooder. Arthur insists on accompanying them to find his wife, despite his injury.


title: Bone Tomahawk

text: Days into their ride, two strangers stumble across the rescue party's camp and are killed by Brooder, who fears they are scouts for a raid. The rescue party set up a new camp, but are ambushed by raiders who injure Brooder's horse and steal the rest. The following day, a fight breaks out between Brooder and Arthur, exacerbating Arthur's leg wound. Chicory leaves him to recover while he, Hunt, and Brooder continue on foot. Reaching the valley, the rescue party are ambushed by the Troglodytes. The rescuers kill three, but Brooder is killed and Hunt and Chicory are captured and imprisoned.


title: Bone Tomahawk

text: Hunt and Chicory find Samantha and Nick in a different cell and learn the Troglodytes have already killed and eaten Purvis. The group later witness Nick stripped, brutally scalped, bisected alive, and then consumed. Hunt tricks several Troglodytes into drinking liquor laced with opium tincture, with one dying while another becomes unconscious. Arthur follows the men's trail and discovers the valley. He kills two Troglodytes and discovers they use an animal bone in their windpipes as a whistle. He blows on it, luring another Troglodyte, then kills him.


title: Bone Tomahawk

text: In the cave, the Troglodyte leader grows angry at the poisoning. The Troglodytes cut open Hunt's abdomen, shove the heated opium flask into the wound, and shoot him. Arthur arrives, killing the leader, and frees Samantha and Chicory. A mortally wounded Hunt stays behind with a rifle, promising to kill any surviving Troglodytes when they return, to prevent them from terrorizing Bright Hope. As the three leave the cave, they see two pregnant Troglodyte women, who are blinded and have had all their limbs amputated. After the party is at a distance from the valley, Arthur blows on the Troglodyte whistle, with no response. They then hear three gunshots, implying that Hunt has killed the remaining Troglodytes.


title: Bone Tomahawk

text: "Bone Tomahawk" is the directorial debut of screenwriter and novelist S. Craig Zahler, who wrote the script in 2011. Zahler had previously completed more than forty original screenplays for Hollywood, including "The Big Stone Grid", "Conflicts of the Last Progenitors", and "The Brigands of Rattleborge", the last of which topped The Black List in 2006. However, only one film was produced: the 2011 low-budget horror film "Asylum Blackout".


title: Bone Tomahawk

text: Zahler had previously written four Westerns, making Bone Tomahawk his fifth work in the Western genre. Back in 2005, Zahler watched nineteen films in two weeks at a Westerns festival at the Film Forum and, upon seeing a film he didn't like, began to think about how to improve it in his own way; thereafter deciding to write novels and screenplays in the Western genre. The concept of "Bone Tomahawk" arose when Zahler's manager, producer, and friend Dallas Sonnier proposed he make a film adaption of his novel "Wraiths of the Broken Land" directed by Zahler himself. However, Zahler believed the novel could not be adapted on a low budget and opted to write a rescue Western, "Bone Tomahawk", instead as a sibling piece to "Wraiths of the Broken Land". Zahler took satisfaction while creating "Bone Tomahawk", in preserving within the film much of the original script. "Bone Tomahawk" was described by Alex Godfrey of "The Guardian" as "A western with horror trimmings", but has been described by Zahler as just a direct Western, with references to lost race fiction such as H. Rider Haggard's "King Solomon's Mines". Zahler incorporated some details of his personal life into the script, remarking: "Most characters I write have some attributes in common with me, and some attributes that are not. Certainly when Brooder says: ‘Smart men don’t get married’, everyone who knows me is thinking of me. ‘That’s something Zahler would say.’" and "I’m not married and don’t have any interest in it."


title: Bone Tomahawk

text: In regard to other Western films made in 2015, Zahler remarked that he thought "The Revenant" was the worst film that he had seen in five years while "The Hateful Eight" is too theatrical, despite him enjoying watching the latter. Zahler includes humor in every work he writes, stating: "It’s one of these things where you’re dealing with a serious situation, but if everyone is frowning and dour all the time, and you don’t see life or love in these characters, I don’t know why you care; that was my experience watching "The Revenant" wondering why anyone would care at all about anything happening to any person in that film."


title: Bone Tomahawk

text: Dallas Sonnier praised the script for "Bone Tomahawk", and pledged to be faithful to it, telling potential investors that arbitrary meddling in the script was not welcome. Despite Sonnier's assurances, investors still wanted the script to be changed due to conflicting interpretations of the film’s genre, and the film being Zahler’s directorial debut. Zahler refused to compromise, including by refusing to sacrifice full creative control and refusing to reduce the film length to ninety minutes. Zahler and Sonnier finally accumulated a $1.8 million budget, half provided by Sonnier and the other half provided by British company The Fyzz Facility, and had 21 days to film. Due to budget constraints, a substantial amount of content in the script did not make it into the final film. When selling the movie to investors, Zahler used directors such as John Cassavetes, Larry Clark, Wong Kar-wai, and Takeshi Kitano as stylistic reference points, despite none being filmmakers in the Western genre. Production of the film was made public on October 30, 2012 and was funded by Caliber Media Company, owned by Sonnier and Jack Heller, with French company Celluloid Dreams handling international sales. On October 2, 2014, Dave Halls was hired as first assistant director of "Bone Tomahawk".


title: Bone Tomahawk

text: On October 2, 2014, Kurt Russell, Peter Sarsgaard, Richard Jenkins, and Jennifer Carpenter signed on to play a sheriff, a cowboy, an oldster, and one of the captives of troglodyte cannibals, respectively. On September 24, 2014, Patrick Wilson and Matthew Fox joined the cast of the film to star along with Russell and Jenkins; Wilson would play Arthur O'Dwyer, a ranch foreman, while Fox would play the role of John Brooder, a gentlemen with dark inclinations. On September 29, Lili Simmons, David Arquette, Sid Haig, Kathryn Morris and Evan Jonigkeit joined the film; Simmons replaced Carpenter to play female lead Samantha O'Dwyer, the de facto doctor and wife of Arthur O'Dwyer, Arquette and Haig would play brigands, Morris would play the wife of Sheriff Hunt, while Jonigkeit was set to play a young deputy sheriff. The other ensemble cast added by the director includes Sean Young, Geno Segers, Fred Melamed, James Tolkan, Raw Leiba, Jamie Hector, Jamison Newlander, Michael Paré, Zahn McClarnon, David Midthunder, Jay Tavare, Gray Wolf Herrera, Robert Allen Mukes, and Brandon Molale. In addition, both Sarsgaard and Timothy Olyphant, who were originally scheduled to star in the film, withdrew.


title: Bone Tomahawk

text: Russell's agent Michael Cooper handed over the script of "Bone Tomahawk" to Sarsgaard, who was originally cast to play Arthur O'Dwyer. Sarsgaard enjoyed the script and signed on to the movie, leading to Cooper passing the script off to Russell. Zahler thought that Russell was a good fit for the role of Sheriff Franklin Hunt, who read the script and quickly agreed to perform. Russell got along well with Zahler, and had also read Zahler's novel "Wraiths of the Broken Land". In his interview with "Collider", Russell appreciated Zahler's script and his "sparse" writing style, adding: "It’s its own category, I wouldn’t know what to call it. It’s not just a straight western, I’ve heard it referred to as a horror western, it’s not that, that’s kind of a bad call on it, I think. I think it’s a graphic western, I think that’s fair." Russell also praised Zahler's skills as a director, especially since "Bone Tomahawk" is his directorial debut. Russell described Sheriff Franklin Hunt as a stubborn and simple good man, whose behavior and tone were very in line with the era in the film. In his comparisons of Hunt to Wyatt Earp, he thought that Hunt and Earp will respect each other, but Earp will be uninterested in him due to Hunt being a low-profile person. In addition, since Russell was also involved in "The Hateful Eight" at about the same time, he had to look different between the two films in regards to the style of hair and beard, remarking: "I had to cheat it. So the look I have in "Bone Tomahawk" was sort of a halfway house thing, halfway to where I was going for "Hateful Eight". It's in full blown maturity in "Hateful Eight"!" Jenkins was Zahler's primary choice for the role of Deputy Chicory, who ended up becoming Zahler's favorite character to write. Although Chicory was written with Jenkins' voice in mind, Jenkins decided to give Chicory an accent and a raspy voice, and though he ended up in acting in a normal voice, he still pushed the accent on-screen.


title: Bone Tomahawk

text: Principal photography began on October 6, 2014, in Malibu, California, where it was filmed for 21 days at the Paramount Ranch. Previously, the crew scouted filming locations at New Mexico, Utah, and Romania. Before filming began, experts told Zahler that shooting could take sixty days and cost $10 million, so Zahler kept a close eye on the schedule while filming and relying on staff to get the job done in a short amount of time. The actors were all onboard on the script and did their roles in the shortest amount of time possible, with one of the scenes using two takes; Russell also gave advice on shooting the violent scenes of the film. During filming, there were multiple firearms malfunctioning, as well as problems regarding special effects, makeup, personnel, and positioning that occurred on a single day. In order to shoot scenes with multiple characters on-screen, "Bone Tomahawk" was shot with a RED Dragon camera at a ratio of . In October 2017, Zahler reflected that he did not like that camera due to it being visually noisy, which led him to switch out for the RED Weapon camera in his next film "Brawl in Cell Block 99". Zahler avoids using too many close-ups in the film, remarking: "One of those things is not using close-ups all the time because most of the time you interact with people, you’re not looking just their faces from a close distance unless you’re intimate." He believes that modern filmmaking frequently use close-ups, which in his mind misses a lot of body language, especially the hands.


title: Bone Tomahawk

text: Bone Tomahawk is well-known for its violent scenes in the troglodytes' cave, with the most notable being Hunter and Chicory watching Nick get torn in half by the cannibals. The troglodytes' cave was shot in California and is the same cave in one of the episodes of the TV series "Weeds" and the movie "Iron Man" (2008). Explaining his invulnerability to violence, Zahler stated that a lot of horror films do not intimidate him with the exception of "Men Behind the Sun" (1988), which he had not watched since when he was a teenager. Zahler shows a dry presentation of violence in his films, using long shots to capture horrific violent acts on people, exemplifying "Cannibal Holocaust" (1980), which employs this tactic. Zahler also explains that violence enhances the characters, stating: "By showing all that violence and showing him talking the guy through it—for me it was always a real scene of strength for Sheriff Hunt, to not just cower away or start blubbering—he’s talking a person through the worst moment of his life. As hideous as the violence is in that scene, it’s a real showing of character strength for Sheriff Hunt. He endures that and does something during those actions that most people couldn’t do." Zahler did not fully focus the camera on the troglodytes, wanting to make their culture more mysterious.


title: Bone Tomahawk

text: The film's soundtrack was composed by Zahler's friend Jeff Herriott. Herriott remarked: “Although we didn’t start working on the music until after they had finished a first cut, Craig and I spoke well before the movie was ever shot about what roles the music would and wouldn’t serve, discussing a few films as reference points. The music in "Bone Tomahawk" often accompanies long shots, rather than close-ups, primarily because Craig didn’t want the music to underscore emotion. He wanted the emotional scenes to be as direct and impactful as possible, and he thought that these scenes might be felt more intensely and honestly without music. Instead, music functioned primarily as transitional material when there was no dialogue, to set the mood or establish a scene.”


title: Bone Tomahawk

text: In August 2015, RLJ Entertainment acquired distribution rights to the film, which had its world premiere at the Fantastic Fest on October 1, 2015. It later screened at the Charlotte Film Festival on October 3, 2015 and later at the London Film Festival on October 10, 2015. The first trailer of "Bone Tomahawk" was released on October 2, 2015. On October 23, 2015, Bone Tomahawk was given a limited release in the United States, and later was released on Blu-ray and DVD on December 29, 2015. Bone Tomahawk was released in a few theaters in the United States, grossing $480,000, plus a total of $4.32 million in home media sales. According to "The Guardian", the film was a commercial success and made its money back.


title: Bone Tomahawk

text: The Blu-ray disc includes behind-the-scenes production footage, theatrical trailers, a collection of posters, a Q&A session with the director and cast, and a cut scene lasting for about two and a half minutes. The deleted scene is an extended version of the ending: Arthur, Chicory, and Samantha spend the night by a campfire, with Chicory naming Arthur as the new sheriff of Bright Hope before Arthur tries to read a "poem" to Samantha he wrote while he was working as a foreman.


title: Bone Tomahawk

text: "Bone Tomahawk" received positive responses from critics and at festivals for its acting (particularly for Kurt Russell, Richard Jenkins and Matthew Fox), grittiness, Zahler's direction, and dialogue, which is stated to be a combination of "The Searchers" and "Cannibal Holocaust". Film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 91% of critics gave the film a "Certified Fresh" rating, based on 93 reviews with an average score of 7.2/10, with a consensus of: ""Bone Tomahawk" peculiar genre blend won't be for everyone, but its gripping performances and a slow-burning story should satisfy those in search of something different." Metacritic gave the film a weighted average score of 72 out of 100, based on 17 reviews from mainstream critics, considered to be "generally favorable".


title: Bone Tomahawk

text: Guy Lodge of "Variety" praised the film, writing, ""Bone Tomahawk" may seem over-indulgent at 132 minutes, yet it's the wayward digressions of Zahler's script — navigated with palpable enjoyment by an expert, Kurt Russell-led ensemble — that are most treasurable in a film that commits wholeheartedly to its own curiosity value." John DeFore from "The Hollywood Reporter" offered the film similar praise, commending the film's performances, production design, cinematography, score, and screenplay. Jeremy Aspinall from "The Radio Times" awarded the film four out of five stars, calling it "a breathtaking addition to a once moribund genre". Dennis Schwartz of "Ozus’ World Movie Reviews" gave the film a grade of B−, praising the film's script, and blending of horror and western genres, while criticizing the film's runtime. Peter Bradshaw of "The Guardian" gave the film four out of five stars, calling it a "pulpy twist on John Ford's "The Searchers" which is hide-under-your-seat scary". Tom Huddleston of "Time Out London" awarded the film a similar four out of five stars, praising the film's script, cinematography, humor, and performances, calling it "[an] unusual, unpredictable western-comedy-horror movie". Kim Newman of "Empire" also gave the film a four out of five stars, calling the film a mix of "The Searchers" and "Cannibal Ferox" (1981), writing: "It has a nice line in wry chatter and a pleasantly old-fashioned ‘lost posse’ plot with engaging, odd characters striving against the wilderness while swapping cynical frontier wisdom."


title: Bone Tomahawk

text: Jeannette Catsoulis of "The New York Times" called the film a masterful blend of western, horror and comedy; "grisly and offbeat, "Bone Tomahawk" may boast abysmal racial politics, but they’re also true to the terrors of the time. Of all the things we can expect from an Old West picture, cultural enlightenment isn’t one of them." Brian Tallerico of "RogerEbert.com" rated the film 3 out of 4 stars, praising the dialogue, the actors, and the violence in the third act. Kayln Corrigan of "Bloody Disgusting" praised David Arquette's acting and how the film adds different techniques and styles to refresh the Western genre, but added that some audience members will not appreciate the slow pacing and the gory violence. Don Kaye of Den of Geek praised the interesting story and the performance of the cast, but also thought the film is lengthy.


title: Bone Tomahawk

text: The film was not without its detractors. Matt Donato from "We Got This Covered" rated the film two and a half out of five stars, criticizing the runtime, stating that ""Bone Tomahawk" is a long, LONG journey towards cannibalistic mayhem, which will test the patience of western fans waiting for the gruesome tomahawking to begin." Conversely, Oliver Lyttelton of IndieWire found Zahler's writing to be engaging and unhurried, and the length to be not an issue. Kevin Maher of "The Times" gave "Bone Tomahawk" a negative two out of five stars, arguing that Zahler used cannibals to copy Quentin Tarantino's use of brutality in his films. Piers Marchant of the "Arkansas Democrat-Gazette" gave the film a 5.6 out of 10, calling "Bone Tomahawk" racist, and "the equivalent of having as villains a sect of Orthodox Jews, discovered to be sitting on piles of money and drinking baby's blood -- and for all intents and purposes, unexplored, other than to make it so radically blatant, it ka-thunks you in the head like one of the nameless tribe's titular weapons."


title: Kava

text: Kava or kava kava ("Piper methysticum": Latin 'pepper' and Latinized Greek 'intoxicating') is a crop of the Pacific Islands. The name "kava" is from Tongan and Marquesan, meaning 'bitter'; other names for kava include "ʻawa" (Hawaiʻi), "ʻava" (Samoa), "yaqona" or "yagona" (Fiji), "sakau" (Pohnpei), "seka" (Kosrae), and "malok" or "malogu" (parts of Vanuatu). Kava is consumed for its sedating effects throughout the Pacific Ocean cultures of Polynesia, including Hawaii and Vanuatu, Melanesia, some parts of Micronesia, such as Pohnpei and Kosrae, and the Philippines.


title: Kava

text: The root of the plant is used to produce a drink with sedative, anesthetic, and euphoriant properties. Its active ingredients are called kavalactones. A systematic review done by the British nonprofit Cochrane concluded it was likely to be more effective than placebo at treating short-term anxiety.


title: Kava

text: Moderate consumption of kava in its traditional form, i.e., as a water-based suspension of kava roots, has been deemed to present an "acceptably low level of health risk" by the World Health Organization. However, consumption of kava extracts produced with organic solvents, or excessive amounts of poor-quality kava products, may be linked to an increased risk of adverse health outcomes, including potential liver injury.


title: Kava

text: Kava is conspecific with "Piper wichmannii," indicating Kava was domesticated from "Piper wichmannii" (syn. "Piper subbullatum"). Kava originated in either New Guinea or Vanuatu by seafarers.


title: Kava

text: It was spread by the Austronesian Lapita culture after contact eastward into the rest of Polynesia. It is endemic to Oceania and is not found in other Austronesian groups. Kava reached Hawaii, but it is absent in New Zealand where it cannot grow. Consumption of kava is also believed to be the reason why betel chewing, ubiquitous elsewhere, was lost for Austronesians in Oceania.


title: Kava

text: According to Lynch (2002), the reconstructed Proto-Polynesian term for the plant, "*kava", was derived from the Proto-Oceanic term "*kawaR" in the sense of a "bitter root" or "potent root [used as fish poison]". It may have been related to reconstructed "*wakaR" (in Proto-Oceanic and Proto-Malayo-Polynesian) via metathesis. It originally referred to "Zingiber zerumbet", which was used to make a similar mildly psychoactive bitter drink in Austronesian rituals. Cognates for "*kava" include Pohnpeian "sa-kau"; Tongan, Niue, Rapa Nui, Tuamotuan, and Rarotongan "kava"; Samoan and Marquesan "ava"; and Hawaiian "awa". In some languages, most notably Māori "kawa", the cognates have come to mean "bitter", "sour", or "acrid" to the taste.


title: Kava

text: In the Cook Islands, the reduplicated forms of "kawakawa" or "kavakava" are also applied to the unrelated members of the genus "Pittosporum". In other languages, such as Futunan, compound terms like "kavakava atua" refer to other species belonging to the genus "Piper". The reduplication of the base form is indicative of falsehood or likeness, in the sense of "false kava". In New Zealand, it was applied to the kawakawa ("Piper excelsum") which is endemic to New Zealand and nearby Norfolk Island and Lord Howe Island. It was exploited by the Māori based on previous knowledge of the kava, as the latter could not survive in the colder climates of New Zealand. The Māori name for the plant, "kawakawa", is derived from the same etymon as kava, but reduplicated. It is a sacred tree among the Māori people. It is seen as a symbol of death, corresponding to the rangiora ("Brachyglottis repanda") which is the symbol of life. However, "kawakawa" has no psychoactive properties. Its connection to kava is based purely on similarity in appearance.


title: Kava

text: Kava was historically grown only in the Pacific islands of Hawaii, Federated States of Micronesia, Vanuatu, Fiji, the Samoas and Tonga. An inventory of "P. methysticum" distribution showed it was cultivated on numerous islands of Micronesia, Melanesia, Polynesia, and Hawaii, whereas specimens of "P. wichmannii" were all from Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu.


title: Kava

text: The kava shrub thrives in loose, well-drained soils where plenty of air reaches the roots. It grows naturally where rainfall is plentiful, attaining over per year. Ideal growing conditions are and 70–100% relative humidity. Too much sunlight is harmful, especially in early growth, because kava is an understory crop.


title: Kava

text: Kava cannot reproduce sexually. Female flowers are especially rare and do not produce fruit even when hand-pollinated. Its cultivation is entirely by propagation from stem cuttings.


title: Kava

text: Traditionally, plants are harvested around four years of age, as older plants have higher concentrations of kavalactones. After reaching about height, plants grow a wider stalk and additional stalks, but not much taller. The roots can reach a depth of .


title: Kava

text: Kava consists of sterile cultivars cloned from its wild ancestor, "Piper wichmanii". Today it comprises hundreds of different cultivars grown across the Pacific. Each cultivar has not only different requirements for successful cultivation, but also displays unique characteristics both in terms of its appearance, and in terms of its psychoactive properties.


title: Kava

text: Scholars make a distinction between the so-called "noble" and non-noble kava. The latter category comprises the so-called "tudei" (or "two-day") kavas, medicinal kavas, and wild kava ("Piper wichmanii", the ancestor of domesticated "Piper methysticum"). Traditionally, only noble kavas have been used for regular consumption, due to their more favourable composition of kavalactones and other compounds that produce more pleasant effects and have lower potential for causing negative side-effects, such as nausea or "kava hangover".


title: Kava

text: The perceived benefits of noble cultivars explain why only these cultivars were spread around the Pacific by Polynesian and Melanesian migrants, with presence of non-noble cultivars limited to the islands of Vanuatu from which they originated. More recently, it has been suggested that the widespread use of tudei cultivars in the manufacturing of several kava products might have been the key factor contributing to the rare reports of adverse reactions to kava observed among the consumers of kava-based products in Europe.


title: Kava

text: Tudei varieties have traditionally not been grown in Hawaii and Fiji; but in recent years there have been reports of farmers attempting to grow "isa" or "palisi" non-noble cultivars in Hawaii, and of imports of dried tudei kava into Fiji for further re-exporting. The tudei cultivars may be easier and cheaper to grow: while it takes up to 5 years for noble kava to mature, non-noble varieties can often be harvested just one year after being planted.


title: Kava

text: The concerns about the adverse effects of non-noble varieties, produced by their undesirable composition of kavalactones and high concentrations of potentially harmful compounds (flavokavains), which are not present in any significant concentration in the noble varieties, have led to legislation prohibiting exports from such countries as Vanuatu. Likewise, efforts have been made to educate the non-traditional customers about the difference between noble and non-noble varieties and that non-noble varieties do not offer the same results as noble cultivars. In recent years, government regulatory bodies and non-profit NGOs have been set up with the declared aim of monitoring kava quality, producing regular reports, certifying vendors selling proper, noble kava, and warning customers against products that may contain tudei varieties.


title: Kava

text: In Vanuatu, exportation of kava is strictly regulated. Only cultivars classified as "noble" are allowed to be exported. Only the most desirable cultivars for everyday drinking are classified as noble to maintain quality control. In addition, their laws mandate that exported kava must be at least five years old and farmed organically. Their most popular noble cultivars are "Borogu" or "Borongoru" from Pentecost Island, "Melomelo" from Aoba Island (called "Sese" in the north Pentecost Island), and "Palarasul" kava from Espiritu Santo. In Vanuatu, Tudei ("two day") kava is reserved for special ceremonial occasions and exporting it is not allowed. "Palisi" is a popular Tudei variety.


title: Kava

text: In Hawaii, there are many other cultivars of kava (). Some of the most popular cultivars are "Mahakea", "Moʻi", "Hiwa" and "Nene". The "Aliʻi" (kings) of precolonial Hawaii coveted the "Moʻi" variety, which had a strong cerebral effect due to a predominant amount of the kavalactone kavain. This sacred variety was so important to them that no one but royalty could ever experience it, "lest they suffer an untimely death". The reverence for Hiwa in old Hawaiʻi is evident in this portion of a chant recorded by Nathaniel Bright Emerson and quoted by E. S. Craighill and Elizabeth Green Handy. "This refers to the cup of sacramental ʻawa brewed from the strong, black ʻawa root (ʻawa hiwa) which was drunk sacramentally by the kumu hula":


title: Kava

text: Winter describes a hula prayer for inspiration which contains the line, "He ʻike pū ʻawa hiwa." Pukui and Elbert translated this as "a knowledge from kava offerings". Winter explains that ʻawa, especially of the Hiwa variety, was offered to hula deities in return for knowledge and inspiration.


title: Kava

text: Kawakawa ("Piper excelsum") plant, known also as "Māori kava", may be confused with kava. While the two plants look similar and have similar names, they are different but related species. Kawakawa is a small tree endemic to New Zealand, having importance to traditional medicine and Māori culture. As noted by the Kava Society of New Zealand, "in all likelihood, the kava plant was known to the first settlers of Aotearoa [New Zealand]. It is also possible that (just like the Polynesian migrants that settled in Hawaii) the Maori explorers brought some kava with them. Unfortunately, most of New Zealand is simply too cold for growing kava and hence the Maori settlers lost their connection to the sacred plant." Further, "in New Zealand, where the climate is too cold for kava, the Maori gave the name kawa-kawa to another "Piperaceae M. excelsum", in memory of the kava plants they undoubtedly brought with them and unsuccessfully attempted to cultivate. The Maori word kawa also means "ceremonial protocol", recalling the stylized consumption of the drug typical of Polynesian societies". Kawakawa is commonly used in Maori traditional medicine for the treatment of skin infections, wounds and cuts, and (when prepared as a tea) for stomach upsets and other minor illnesses.


title: Kava

text: Fresh kava root contains on average 80% water. Dried root contains approximately 43% starch, 20% dietary fiber, 15% kavalactones, 12% water, 3.2% sugars, 3.6% protein, and 3.2% minerals.


title: Kava

text: In general, kavalactone content is greatest in the roots and decreases higher up the plant into the stems and leaves. Relative concentrations of 15%, 10% and 5% have been observed in the root, stump, and basal stems, respectively. The relative content of kavalactones depends not only on plant segment, but also on the kava plant varieties, plant maturity, geographic location, and time of harvest. The kavalactones present are kavain, demethoxyyangonin and yangonin, which are higher in the roots than in the stems and leaves, with dihydrokavain, methysticin, and dihydromethysticin also present.


title: Kava

text: The mature roots of the kava plant are harvested after a minimum of four years (at least five years ideally) for peak kavalactone content. Most kava plants produce around of root when they are harvested. Kava root is classified into two categories: crown root (or chips) and lateral root. Crown roots are the large-diameter pieces that look like ( diameter) wooden poker chips. Most kava plants consist of approximately 80% crown root upon harvesting. Lateral roots are smaller-diameter roots that look more like a typical root. A mature kava plant is about 20% lateral roots. Kava lateral roots have the highest content of kavalactones in the kava plant. "Waka" grade kava is made of lateral roots only.


title: Kava

text: A total of 18 different kavalactones (or kavapyrones) have been identified to date, at least 15 of which are active. However, six of them, including kavain, dihydrokavain, methysticin, dihydromethysticin, yangonin, and desmethoxyyangonin, have been determined to be responsible for about 96% of the plant's pharmacological activity. Some minor constituents, including three chalcones, flavokavain A, flavokavain B, and flavokavain C, have also been identified, as well as a toxic alkaloid (not present in the consumable parts of the plant), pipermethystine. Alkaloids are present in the roots and leaves.


title: Kava

text: The following pharmacological actions have been reported for kava and/or its major active constituents:


title: Kava

text: Receptor binding assays with botanical extracts have revealed direct interactions of leaf extracts of kava (which appear to be more active than root extracts) with the GABA (i.e., main) binding site of the GABA receptor, the D receptor, the μ- and δ-opioid receptors, and the H and H receptors. Weak interaction with the 5-HT and 5-HT receptors and the benzodiazepine site of the GABA receptor was also observed.


title: Kava

text: Potentiation of GABA receptor activity may underlie the anxiolytic effects of kava, while elevation of dopamine levels in the nucleus accumbens likely underlie the moderately psychotropic effects the plant can produce. Changes in the activity of 5-HT neurons could explain the sleep-inducing action However, failure of the GABA receptor inhibitor flumazenil to reverse the anxiolytic effects of kava in mice suggests that benzodiazepine-like effects are not contributing to the pharmacological profile of kava extracts.


title: Kava

text: Heavy, long-term use of kava has been found to be free of association with reduced ability in saccade and cognitive tests, but has been associated with elevated liver enzymes.


title: Kava

text: Recent usage of kava has been documented in forensic investigations by quantitation of kavain in blood specimens. The principal urinary metabolite, conjugated 4'-OH-kavain, is generally detectable for up to 48 hours.


title: Kava

text: Kava is consumed in various ways throughout the Pacific Ocean cultures of Polynesia, Vanuatu, Melanesia and some parts of Micronesia and Australia. Traditionally, it is prepared by either chewing, grinding or pounding the roots of the kava plant. Grinding is done by hand against a cone-shaped block of dead coral; the hand forms a mortar and the coral a pestle. The ground root/bark is combined with only a little water, as the fresh root releases moisture during grinding. Pounding is done in a large stone with a small log. The product is then added to cold water and consumed as quickly as possible.


title: Kava

text: The extract is an emulsion of kavalactone droplets in starch and buttermilk. The taste is slightly pungent, while the distinctive aroma depends on whether it was prepared from dry or fresh plant, and on the variety. The colour is grey to tan to opaque greenish.


title: Kava

text: Kava prepared as described above is much more potent than processed kava. Chewing produces the strongest effect because it produces the finest particles. Fresh, undried kava produces a stronger beverage than dry kava. The strength also depends on the species and techniques of cultivation.


title: Kava

text: In Vanuatu, a strong kava drink is normally followed by a hot meal or tea. The meal traditionally follows some time after the drink so the psychoactives are absorbed into the bloodstream more quickly. Traditionally, no flavoring is added.


title: Kava

text: In Papua New Guinea, the locals in Madang province refer to their kava as "waild koniak" ("wild cognac" in English).


title: Kava

text: Fijians commonly share a drink called grog made by pounding sun-dried kava root into a fine powder, straining and mixing it with cold water. Traditionally, grog is drunk from the shorn half-shell of a coconut, called a "bilo". Grog is very popular in Fiji, especially among young men, and often brings people together for storytelling and socializing. Drinking grog for a few hours brings a numbing and relaxing effect to the drinker; grog also numbs the tongue and grog drinking typically is followed by a "chaser" or sweet or spicy snack to follow a "bilo".


title: Kava

text: Water extraction is the traditional method for preparation of the plant. Pharmaceutical and herbal supplement companies extract kavalactones from the kava plant using solvents such as supercritical carbon dioxide, acetone, and ethanol to produce pills standardized with between 30% and 90% kavalactones.


title: Kava

text: Numerous scholars and regulatory bodies have raised concerns over the safety profile of such products.


title: Kava

text: One group of scholars say that organic solvents introduce compounds that may affect the liver into the standardized product; these compounds are not extracted by water and consequently largely absent from kava prepared with water. For instance, when compared with water extraction, organic solvents extract vastly larger amounts of flavokavains, compounds associated with adverse reactions to kava that are present in very low concentrations in noble kava, but significant in non-noble.


title: Kava

text: Also "chemical solvents used do not extract the same compounds as the natural water extracts in traditional use. The extraction process may exclude important modifying constituents soluble only in water". In particular, it has been noted that, unlike traditional, water-based preparations, products obtained with the use of organic solvents do not contain glutathione, an important liver-protecting compound. Another group of researchers noted: "The extraction process (aqueous vs. acetone in the two types of preparations) is responsible for the difference in toxicity as extraction of glutathione in addition to the kava lactones is important to provide protection against hepatotoxicity".


title: Kava

text: It has also been argued that kavalactone extracts have often been made from low-quality plant material, including the toxic aerial parts of the plant, non-noble kava varieties, or plants affected by mold, which, in light of the chemical solvents' ability to extract far greater amounts of the potentially toxic compounds than water, makes them particularly problematic.


title: Kava

text: In the context of these concerns, the World Health Organization advises against the consumption of ethanolic and acetonic kavalactone extracts, and says that "products should be developed from water-based suspensions of kava". The government of Australia prohibit the sales of such kavalactone extracts, and only permit the sale of kava products in their natural form or produced with cold water.


title: Kava

text: Kava is used for medicinal, religious, political, cultural, and social purposes throughout the Pacific. These cultures have a great respect for the plant and place a high importance on it. In Fiji, for example, a formal "yaqona" (kava) ceremony will often accompany important social, political, or religious functions, usually involving a ritual presentation of the bundled roots as a "sevusevu" (gift), and drinking of the "yaqona" itself. Due to the importance of kava in religious rituals and the seemingly (from the Western point of view) unhygienic preparation method, its consumption was discouraged or even banned by Christian missionaries.


title: Kava

text: With kava's increasing popularity, bars serving the plant in its liquid state are beginning to open up outside of the South Pacific.


title: Kava

text: A 2010 review concluded that it's possible that ethanol combined with kava may be the cause of kava hepatotoxicity. While some bars have been committed to only serving the traditional forms and types of kava, other establishments have been accused of serving non-traditionally consumed non-noble kava varieties which are cheaper, but far more likely to cause unpleasant effects and adverse reactions, or of serving kava with other substances, including alcohol.


title: Kava

text: The nature of effects will largely depend on the cultivar of the kava plant and the form of its consumption. Traditionally, only noble kava cultivars have been consumed as they are accepted as safe and produce desired effects. The specific effects of various noble kavas depend on various factors, such as the cultivar used (and the related specific composition of kavalactones), age of the plant, and method of its consumption. However, it can be stated that in general noble kava produces a state of calmness, relaxation and well-being without diminishing cognitive performance. Kava may produce an initial talkative period, followed by muscle relaxation and eventual sleepiness.


title: Kava

text: As noted in one of the earliest Western publications on kava (1886): "A well prepared Kava potion drunk in small quantities produces only pleasant changes in behavior. It is therefore a slightly stimulating drink which helps relieve great fatigue. It relaxes the body after strenuous efforts, clarifies the mind and sharpens the mental faculties".


title: Kava

text: Despite its psychoactive effects, kava is not considered to be physically addictive and its use does not lead to dependency.


title: Kava

text: A 2010 review concluded that it's possible that ethanol combined with kava may be the cause of kava hepatotoxicity.


title: Kava

text: A 2016 comprehensive review of kava safety conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) concluded that: "On balance, the weight-of-evidence from both a long history of use of kava beverage and from the more recent research findings indicates that it is possible for kava beverage to be consumed with an acceptably low level of health risk". The authors of the review noted that:


title: Kava

text: A human health risk assessment conducted by the Australian and New Zealand governments concluded that:


title: Kava

text: A 2013 overview of 50 systematic reviews listed the "pyper methysticum" among the only four of the 50 monitored herbal medicines which showed serious adverse effects for the human health.


title: Kava

text: According to a 2010 discussion paper prepared for the Codex Alimentarius Commission: "kava has had at least a 1500-year history of relatively safe use, with liver side effects never having arisen in the ethnopharmacological data. (...) Clinical trials of kava have not revealed hepatotoxicity as a problem. This has been confirmed by further studies evaluating the toxicology of kava drink. Based on available scientific information it can be inferred that kava as a traditional beverage is safe for human consumption."


title: Kava

text: In 2001, concerns were raised about the safety of kava, which led to restrictions and regulations in several countries, as well as reports by the United States CDC and FDA. In response to media reports from Europe, in 2002 the FDA issued a (now archived) Consumer Advisory stating that, "Kava-Containing Dietary Supplements May be Associated With Severe Liver Injury." Likewise, LiverTox of the National Library of Medicine/National Institutes of Health noted that: "The frequency of adverse reactions to kava, particularly liver injury, is not known... Between 50 and 100 cases of clinically apparent liver injury have been published or discussed in the literature. Advocates for the herb have strongly rejected these numbers, disputing both their accuracy and the causality assessment process. Still, there seems to be convincing evidence in some cases of severe hepatitis ending in fulminant hepatic failure, requiring liver transplantation, and even leading to death."


title: Kava

text: Most of the concerns were related to a small number of reports indicating potential cases of hepatotoxicity caused by consumption of various commercial products derived from kava. A number of scientists and medical practitioners criticized the poor quality of the reports by pointing out that most of the reported rare cases of hepatotoxicity involved patients with a history of alcohol or prescription drug abuse or concomitant use of medicines known as potentially hepatotoxic. Likewise, the Australian studies from the late 1990s suggesting an association between health problems and heavy kava use, that contributed toward the rise of concerns about kava were found to be focused on populations with very heavy concomitant consumption of alcohol and overall poor health. More rigorous clinical research has found no evidence of any significant negative health issues (including any irreversible liver damage) that could be linked to kava. In light of this information and subsequent research on 10 June 2014, the German Administrative Court overturned the 2002 ban reinstating the regulatory requirements of 2001. The court stated that risk from kava exposure had not been clearly demonstrated, nor does it appear unusually high, an opinion presumably driven by the very small number of cases of reported toxicity (n ~ 3) with even a certain degree of causality linked to kava in a global kava-consuming community that may number in the millions of doses consumed daily.


title: Kava

text: According to one comprehensive review: "Despite the link to kava and liver toxicity demonstrated in vivo and in vitro, in the history of Western kava use, toxicity is still considered relatively rare. Only a fraction of the handful of cases reviewed for liver toxicity could be, with any certainty, linked to kava consumption and most of those involved the co-ingestion of other medications/supplements. That means that the incident rate of liver toxicity due to kava is one in 60–125 million patients." According to an in-depth human health risk assessment commissioned by the New Zealand and Australian governments, while consumption of kava may result in such minor and reversible side effects as kava dermopathy (see below), "there is no evidence that occasional use of kava beverage is associated with any long-term adverse effects, including effects on the liver."


title: Kava

text: Aside from "the small number of cases of kava hepatotoxicity [that might have been] due to an idiosyncratic reaction of the metabolic type", "liver injury by kava is basically a preventable disease". In order to minimize or eliminate the risk of liver injury, only high-quality plant material should be used in the preparation of kava supplements or kava beverages. In particular, the use of the so-called "two-day" (known also as "tudei", "isa", "palisi") and wild ("Piper wichmanii") cultivars traditionally not consumed, should be avoided. The use of these cultivars in the manufacturing of kava-based pharmaceutical products is undesirable due to their very different phytochemistry and relatively high concentrations of potentially harmful compounds (flavokavains). While other ("noble") cultivars also contain these compounds, toxicity seems to be triggered only at relatively high concentrations, too high to be of relevance with the use of noble kava or its corresponding extract preparations". Such cultivars mainly grow in Vanuatu, which outlawed their exports in 2004.


title: Kava

text: Adverse reactions may result from the poor quality of kava raw material used in the manufacturing of various kava products. In addition to the potential for hepatotoxicity, adverse reactions from chronic use may include visual impairment, rashes or dermatitis, seizures, weight loss, and malnutrition, but there is only limited high-quality research on these possible effects.


title: Kava

text: On the basis of research findings and long history of safe use across the South Pacific, experts recommend using water-based extractions of high-quality peeled rhizome and roots of the noble kava cultivars to minimize the potential of adverse reactions to chronic use.


title: Kava

text: Several adverse interactions with drugs have been documented, both prescription and nonprescription – including, but not limited to, anticonvulsants, alcohol, anxiolytics (CNS depressants such as benzodiazepines), antipsychotics, levodopa, diuretics, and drugs metabolized by CYP450 in the liver.


title: Kava

text: Long term and heavy kava consumption is associated with a reversible skin condition known as "kava dermopathy" or "kani kani" (in Fiji) characterised by dry and scaly skin covering the palms of the hands, soles of the feet, and back. The first symptom to appear usually is dry, peeling skin; some Pacific Islanders deliberately consume large quantities of Kava for several weeks in order to get the peeling effect, resulting in a layer of new skin. These effects appeared at consumption levels between to a week of kava powder. Despite numerous studies, the mechanism that causes kava dermopathy is poorly understood "but may relate to interference with cholesterol metabolism". The condition is easily treatable with abstinence or lowering of kava intake as the skin appears to be returning to its normal state within a couple of weeks of reduced or no kava use. Kava dermopathy should not be confused with rare instances of allergic reactions to kava that are usually characterised by itchy rash or puffy face.


title: Kava

text: Kava is under preliminary research for its potential psychoactive – primarily anxiolytic – sleep-inducing, and sleep-enhancing properties. Preliminary randomized controlled trials in anxiety disorders indicate a higher rate of improvement in anxiety symptoms after kava treatment, relative to placebo.


title: Kava

text: Over centuries, kava has been used in the traditional medicine of the South Pacific Islands for central nervous system and peripheral effects. As noted in one literature review: "Peripherally, kava is indicated in traditional Pacific medicine for urogenital conditions (gonorrhea infections, chronic cystitis, difficulty urinating), reproductive and women's health (...), gastrointestinal upsets, respiratory ailments (asthma, coughs, and tuberculosis), skin diseases and topical wounds, and as an analgesic, with significant subtlety and nuance attending the precise strain, plant component (leaf, stem, root) and preparative method to be used".


title: Kava

text: In Australia, the supply of kava is regulated through the National Code of Kava Management. Travellers to Australia are allowed to bring up to 4 kg of kava in their baggage, provided they are at least 18 years old, and the kava is in root or dried form. Commercial import of larger quantities is allowed, under licence for medical or scientific purposes. These restrictions were introduced in 2007 after concern about abuse of kava in indigenous communities. Initially, the import limit was 2 kg per person; it was raised to 4 kg in December 2019, and a pilot program allowing for commercial importation was implemented on 1 December 2021.


title: Kava

text: The Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration has recommended no more than 250 mg of kavalactones be taken in a 24‑hour period.


title: Kava

text: Kava possession is limited to 2 kg per adult in the Northern Territory. While it was banned in Western Australia previously in the 2000s, the Western Australian Health Department announced lifting of its ban in February 2017, bringing Western Australia "into line with other States" where it has always remained legal, albeit closely regulated.


title: Kava

text: Following the discussions on the safety of certain pharmaceutical products derived from kava and sold in Germany, in 2002 the EU imposed a temporary ban on imports of kava-based pharmaceutical products. The sale of kava plant became regulated in Switzerland, France, and in prepared form in the Netherlands. Some Pacific Island States who had been benefiting from the export of kava to the pharmaceutical companies have attempted to overturn the EU ban on kava-based pharmaceutical products by invoking international trade agreements at the WTO: Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu argued that the ban was imposed with insufficient evidence. The pressure prompted Germany to reconsider the evidence base for banning kava-based pharmaceutical products. On 10 June 2014, the German Administrative Court overturned the 2002 ban making selling kava as a medicine legal (personal possession of kava has never been illegal), albeit strictly regulated. In Germany, kava-based pharmaceutical preparations are currently prescription drugs. Furthermore, patient and professional information brochures have been redesigned to warn about potential side effects. These strict measures have been opposed by some of the leading kava scientists. In early 2016 a court case has been filed against the Bundesinstitut für Arzneimittel und Medizinprodukte (BfArM/German Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices) arguing that the new regulatory regime is too strict and not justified.


title: Kava

text: In the United Kingdom it is a criminal offence to sell, supply or import any medicinal product containing kava for human consumption. It is legal to possess kava for personal use, or to import it for purposes other than human consumption (e.g. for animals).


title: Kava

text: Until August 2018, Poland was the only EU country with an "outright ban on kava" and where the mere possession of kava was prohibited and may have resulted in a prison sentence. Under the new legislation, kava is no longer listed among prohibited substances and it is therefore legal to possess, import and consume the plant, but it remains illegal to sell it within Poland for the purpose of human consumption.


title: Kava

text: When used traditionally, kava is regulated as a food under the Food Standards Code. Kava may also be used as an herbal remedy, where it is currently regulated by the Dietary Supplements Regulations. Only traditionally consumed forms and parts of the kava plant (i.e., pure roots of the kava plant, water extractions prepared from these roots) can legally be sold as food or dietary supplements in New Zealand. The aerial parts of the plant (growing up and out of the ground), unlike the roots, contain relatively small amounts of kavalactones; instead, they contain a mildly toxic alkaloid pipermethysticine). While not normally consumed, the sale of aerial plant sections and non-water based extract (such as CO2, acetonic or ethanol extractions) is prohibited for the purpose of human consumption (but can be sold as an ingredient in cosmetics or other products not intended for human consumption).


title: Kava

text: In 2002, Health Canada issued an order prohibiting the sale of any product containing kava. While the restrictions on kava were lifted in 2012, Health Canada lists five kava ingredients as of 2017.


title: Kava

text: In 2002, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a Consumer Advisory: "Kava-Containing Dietary Supplements May be Associated With Severe Liver Injury." No legal action was taken and this advisory has since been archived.


title: Kava

text: The Pacific island-state of Vanuatu has passed legislation to regulate the quality of its kava exports. Vanuatu prohibits the export or consumption of non-noble kava varieties or the parts of the plant that are unsuitable for consumption (such as leaves and stems).


title: Cathay Pacific

text: Cathay Pacific Airways Limited (CPA), more widely known as Cathay Pacific (), is the flag carrier of Hong Kong, with its head office and main hub located at Hong Kong International Airport. The airline's operations and subsidiaries have scheduled passenger and cargo services to over 190 destinations and present in more than 60 countries worldwide including codeshares and joint ventures. Cathay Pacific operates a fleet consisting of Airbus A321, Airbus A321neo, Airbus A330, Airbus A350, and Boeing 777 aircraft. Cathay Pacific Cargo operates two models of the Boeing 747. Defunct wholly owned subsidiary airline Cathay Dragon, which ceased operations in 2020, previously flew to 44 destinations in the Asia-Pacific region from its Hong Kong base. In 2010, Cathay Pacific and Cathay Pacific Cargo, together with Dragonair (then Cathay Dragon), carried nearly 27 million passengers and over 1.8 million tons of cargo and mail.


title: Cathay Pacific

text: The airline was founded on 24 September 1946 by Australian Sydney H. de Kantzow and American Roy C. Farrell. The airline celebrated its 70th anniversary in 2016; and , its major shareholders are Swire Pacific, with a 42.3% stake and Air China, with a 28.2% stake.


title: Cathay Pacific

text: Cathay Pacific is the world's fifth largest airline measured by sales, and fourteenth largest measured by market capitalization. In 2010, Cathay Pacific became the world's largest international cargo airline, along with main hub Hong Kong International Airport as the world's busiest airport measured by cargo traffic. The company slogan is "Move beyond."


title: Cathay Pacific

text: Cathay Pacific Airways was founded on 24 September 1946 in Hong Kong. Sydney "Syd" de Kantzow, Roy Farrell, Neil Buchanan, Donald Brittan Evans and Robert "Bob" Stanley Russell were the initial shareholders. Buchanan and Russell had already worked for de Kantzow and Farrell at Roy Farrell Import-Export Company, the predecessor of Cathay Pacific, that was initially headquartered in Shanghai. Both de Kantzow and Farrell were Ex-Air Force pilots who had flown The Hump, a route over the Himalayan mountains. Farrell purchased the airline's first aircraft, a Douglas DC-3, nicknamed "Betsy", at Bush Field, New York City in 1945. The company began freight services on 28 January 1946 from Sydney to Shanghai, after Farrell and Russell flew the plane to Australia and obtained a license to carry freight (but not passengers) earlier that month. Its first commercial flight was a shipment of Australian goods. The profitable business soon attracted attention from the Republic of China Government Officials. After several instances where the company's planes were detained by authorities in Shanghai, on 11 May 1946 the company relocated, flying its two planes to Hong Kong. Farrell and de Kantzow re-registered their business in Hong Kong on 24 September 1946 as Cathay Pacific Airways Limited, while another sister company, The Roy Farrell Export Import Company (Hong Kong) Limited, was incorporated on 28 August 1946 and chartered some flights from Cathay. (According to "International Directory of Company Histories", two companies were formed for tax purposes.)


title: Cathay Pacific

text: They named the airline "Cathay", the ancient name given to China, and "Pacific" because Farrell speculated that they would one day fly across the Pacific (which happened in the 1970s). Moreover, to avoid the name "Air Cathay" as it had already been used in a comic. The Chinese name for the company ("") was not settled on until the 1950s. It comes from a meaning "Peace and Prosperity" and was at the time often used by other businesses called "Cathay" in English.


title: Cathay Pacific

text: According to legend, the airline's unique name was conceived by Farrell and some foreign correspondents at the bar of the Manila Hotel, while another narrative was the name was taken in the Cathay Hotel in Shanghai Bund, during drinking and brainstorming, and choosing Cathay was to avoid the word China in the airline name. On Cathay Pacific's maiden voyage, de Kantzow and Peter Hoskins flew from Sydney to Hong Kong via Manila. The airline initially flew routes between Hong Kong, Sydney, Manila, Singapore, Shanghai, Saigon, Bangkok, with additional chartered destinations. The airline grew quickly. By 1947, it had added another five DC-3s and two Vickers Catalina seaplanes to its fleet.


title: Cathay Pacific

text: In 1948, a new legal person of Cathay Pacific Airways was incorporated, with John Swire & Sons (now known as Swire Group), China Navigation Company, Australian National Airways being the new shareholders of the new entity, acquiring the assets from the old legal person; the old legal person, was renamed into Cathay Pacific Holdings, as well as retaining 10% shares of the new Cathay Pacific Airways. de Kantzow, Farrell and Russell were the shareholders of Cathay Pacific Holdings at that time. It was reported that the colonial British government of Hong Kong, required the airline was majority-owned by the British. Despite de Kantzow being a British subject through his Australian roots, Farrell was an American, thus forcing them to sell their majority stake. Under Swire's management, de Kantzow remained in the airline until 1951, while Farrell had sold his minority stake in Cathay Pacific soon after Swire's takeover in 1948, due to his wife's health problems. He returned to Texas and became a successful businessman.


title: Cathay Pacific

text: Swire later acquired 52% of Cathay Pacific Airways. , the airline is still owned by Swire Group to the extent of 45% through its subsidiary Swire Pacific Limited, as the largest shareholder. However, Swire Group also formed a shareholders' agreement with the second largest shareholder, Air China (which was controlled by state-owned China National Aviation Holding), which Cathay Pacific and Air China had a cross ownership.


title: Cathay Pacific

text: In the late 1940s, the Hong Kong government divided the local aviation market between Cathay Pacific and its only local competitor, the Jardine Matheson-owned Hong Kong Airways: Cathay Pacific was allocated routes to the south (including South-East Asia and Australia), while Hong Kong Airways was allocated routes to the north (including mainland China, Korea, and Japan). The situation changed with the establishment of the People's Republic of China and the Korean War, which reduced the viability of the northern routes. In 1959, Cathay Pacific acquired Hong Kong Airways, and became the dominant airline in Hong Kong.


title: Cathay Pacific

text: Under Swire, another important sister company, HAECO, was established in 1950. Nowadays, it's one of the major aeroplane repair service companies of Hong Kong with divisions in other cities of China.


title: Cathay Pacific

text: The airline prospered in the late 1950s and into the 1960s, and it purchased Hong Kong Airways, on 1 July 1959. Between 1962 and 1967, the airline recorded double digit growth on average every year and became one of the world's first airlines to operate international services to Fukuoka, Nagoya and Osaka in Japan. In 1964, it carried its one millionth passenger and acquired its first jet engine aircraft, the Convair 880. In 1967, it became an all jet airline with the replacement of its last Lockheed L-188 Electra with a Convair 880.


title: Cathay Pacific

text: In the 1970s, Cathay Pacific installed a computerized reservation system and flight simulators. In 1971, Cathay Pacific Airways received the first Boeing aircraft 707-320B. By 1972 it had five 707s. The new aircraft colour was known as Brunswick green. In July 1976 it began operating a Boeing 707 freighter from Hong Kong to Seoul, Bangkok and Singapore.


title: Cathay Pacific

text: In 1974, Cathay Pacific almost purchased the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 to open a new flight route. During the flight route application process with the British government, due to the pressure from the British government, Cathay Pacific changed the application to apply for a route from Hong Kong to London using a Boeing 747. The application was ultimately rejected. In 1979, the airline acquired its first Boeing 747 and applied for traffic rights to fly to London in 1980, with the first flight taking place on 16 July.


title: Cathay Pacific

text: Expansion continued into the 1980s. In 1982, Cathay Pacific Airways introduced Cathay Pacific Cargo, which provided cargo service to ingratiate the trend of Hong Kong, becoming one of the largest re-export trading ports of the world. The airline's long-haul dedicated cargo services started a twice a week with Hong Kong-Frankfurt-London service operated jointly with Lufthansa. Cathay Pacific kept its service to Vancouver in 1983, with service on to San Francisco in 1986, when an industry-wide boom encouraged route growth to many European and North American centres including London, Brisbane, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Rome, Paris, Zurich and Manchester.


title: Cathay Pacific

text: On 15 May 1986, the airline went public and was listed in the Main Board of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong.


title: Cathay Pacific

text: In January 1990, Cathay Pacific and its parent company, Swire Pacific, acquired a significant shareholding in Dragonair, and a 75% stake in cargo airline Air Hong Kong in 1994. In 1994, the airline launched a programme to upgrade its passenger service, including a HK$23 million program to update its image. Its logo was updated in 1994 and again in 2014.


title: Cathay Pacific

text: The airline began a fleet replacement program in the mid-1990s, which cost a total of US$9 billion. In 1996, CITIC Pacific increased its holdings in Cathay Pacific from 10% to 25%, and two other Chinese companies, CNAC(G) and CTS, also bought substantial holdings, while the Swire Group holding was reduced to 44%. According to the "International Directory of Company Histories", the sale of a 12.5% stake of Cathay Pacific by Swire Pacific to a Chinese state-owned company was regarded "as evidence of China's sincerity in maintaining the prosperity of Hong Kong."


title: Cathay Pacific

text: In 1997, Cathay Pacific updated the registration numbers and flags on its fleet in conjunction with the handover of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to China.


title: Cathay Pacific

text: On 21 May 1998, Cathay Pacific took the first delivery of the Boeing 777-300 at a ceremony in Everett. On 21 September 1998, Cathay Pacific, together with American Airlines, British Airways, Canadian Airlines, and Qantas, co-founded the Oneworld airline alliance. Cathay Pacific temporarily took over the domestic and international operations of Philippine Airlines during its two-week shutdown from 26 September to 7 October 1998. The airline was hurt by the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s, but recorded a record HK$5 billion profit in 2000.


title: Cathay Pacific

text: On Monday, 6 July 1998, Cathay Pacific terminated flights from Kai Tak International Airport to London Heathrow Airport after over 73 years of operation. The next day, Cathay Pacific began flights from New York John F. Kennedy International Airport to the new Hong Kong International Airport at Chek Lap Kok. This flight was also the world's first nonstop transpolar flight from New York to Hong Kong.