Goldenwing Cycle Series by Alfred Coppel

A bestselling author, acclaimed for his blend of espionage and science fiction, begins an exciting new saga. The age of colonization on other planets ended a thousand years ago. A ship called "Glory" carries cargo--and a dangerously mad crewperson--to a planet settled by South Africans determined to restore Apartheid.

She is a Goldenwing and her name is Glory. She was built in orbit around the Moon, 1,700 of Earth's years ago. She is still one of the most beautiful artifacts ever made by Man. Slam-bang space war sequences worthy of A.E. van Vogt . . . a healthy taste of the kind of grand space opera which this series continually promises.--Locus.