The Boer WarThe war declared by the Boers on 11 October 1899 gave the British, as Kipling said, 'no end of a lesson'. It proved to be the longest, the costliest, the bloodiest and the most humiliating campaign that Britain fought between 1815 and 1914. Thomas Pakenham has written the first full-scale history of the war since 1910. His narrative is based on first-hand and largely unpublished sources ranging from the private papers of the leading protagonists to the recollections of survivors from both sides. Out of this historical gold-mine, the author has constructed a narrative as vivid and fast-moving as a novel, and a history that in scholarship, breadth and impact will endure for many years. |
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African Afrikaners army artillery attack battalions battle Black Week Bloemfontein Boers Botha Breyt Brigade British Buller burghers Cabinet cabled camp Cape Colony Cape Town cavalry Chamberlain Churchill Colenso Colonel column commander Cronje enemy field-guns fighting fire force garrison guerrilla gunners guns Hamilton Hill horses hundred Ibid imperial infantry Jameson Johannesburg Joubert Kekewich Kelly-Kenny khaki Kimberley Kitchener Kitchener's kopje Kruger laager Ladysmith Lansdowne loc cit Lord Lyttelton M's diary Mafeking Majuba Methuen Mil dep miles military Milner Modder Modder River Natal officers political Pretoria quoted Raid railway Rand Rawlinson RCSAW regiment Reitz Rhodes rifle Roberts Roberts's sent shells siege Smuts soldiers South Africa Spion Kop staff Steyn surrender tactics Thorneycroft thousand told Transvaal trenches troops Tugela Uitlanders veld victory wagons War Office Warren Wet's Wolseley wounded wrote