Good-Bye Dolly GrayIt was natural for the South African-born writer Rayne Kruger to choose the Boer War for a work of non-fiction. Settled in England, he returned to Johannesburg to interview survivors and consult written records, and Goodbye Dolly Gray, first published in 1959, went on to become the first modern one-volume distillation of existing knowledge on the South African War, concentrating on the campaigning while being mindful of the political consequences for all concerned. Rayne Kruger brilliantly describes the background, the arms and armies, the campaigns and personalities of the war in which soldiers from across the British Empire marched to a succession of brave defeats at hands of sharpshooting farmers. Goodbye Dolly Gray places the glory and the savagery of the South African war into the perspective of modern Africa. “His organization of his vast material is masterly”—TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT “At a time when South Africa and its racial crisis make daily news, this highly readable, lively history recreates the long, grim years of the Boer War [...] Th[is] book tells it all. Paul Kruger, Cecil Rhodes, Joseph Chamberlin, Winston Churchill, the Kaiser, General Kitchener, and many others appear as central or fascinating peripheral figures in the telling. And the great battles of Natal and Ladysmith come alive again with exciting, dust-boiling, brutal verisimilitude. Nor are the political forces behind these years of chaotic fighting neglected. The result is an entertaining, instructive historical work of the first order.”—KIRKUS REVIEW |
From inside the book
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... horses. The batteries of artillery drawn through the streets amazed British bystanders. Rapidly stores were built up at border towns and the veld was burnt to hasten spring growth. On October 2 the Volksraad approved war. Hot-heads were ...
... horses. The batteries of artillery drawn through the streets amazed British bystanders. Rapidly stores were built up at border towns and the veld was burnt to hasten spring growth. On October 2 the Volksraad approved war. Hot-heads were ...
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... horses were led to water a mile away, and the men busied themselves with the usual camp fatigues before breakfast. Suddenly the mist lifted, the whole crest-line of Talana and the adjoining hill was seen crammed with Boers outlined ...
... horses were led to water a mile away, and the men busied themselves with the usual camp fatigues before breakfast. Suddenly the mist lifted, the whole crest-line of Talana and the adjoining hill was seen crammed with Boers outlined ...
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Rayne Kruger. stomach.” He was helped back to his horse and carried from the battlefield in a dying condition. His second-in-command, General Yule, was left to launch the assault. The tenacity of ... horses and other trophies the triumphant.
Rayne Kruger. stomach.” He was helped back to his horse and carried from the battlefield in a dying condition. His second-in-command, General Yule, was left to launch the assault. The tenacity of ... horses and other trophies the triumphant.
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Rayne Kruger. themselves to swords, bayonets, horses and other trophies the triumphant Boers returned to their envious comrades on Impati. So ended the battle of Talana (or Dundee). It was represented in England as a glorious victory ...
Rayne Kruger. themselves to swords, bayonets, horses and other trophies the triumphant Boers returned to their envious comrades on Impati. So ended the battle of Talana (or Dundee). It was represented in England as a glorious victory ...
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... horse and infantry were rushed up to French by rail and road. To command the infantry, White sent Colonel Ian Hamilton. Like French and Haig, this was destined to be a famous name. Hamilton had followed his father into the Gordon ...
... horse and infantry were rushed up to French by rail and road. To command the infantry, White sent Colonel Ian Hamilton. Like French and Haig, this was destined to be a famous name. Hamilton had followed his father into the Gordon ...
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Common terms and phrases
advance ammunition army arrived artillery attack Baden-Powell battle Black Week blockhouse Bloemfontein Boers British brought Buller burghers called camp Cape Town captured cavalry Chamberlain Christian de Wet Colesburg colonial column command commandos convoy Cronje Cronje’s defence enemy England farm fighting fire flank force Free Staters French front garrison Gatacre Government guerilla guns Hamilton hills horses infantry Jan Smuts Johannesburg Joubert Kimberley Kitchener Kitchener’s Klerksdorp kopjes Kroonstad laager Ladysmith leaders Louis Botha Mafeking Magaliesberg Magersfontein Methuen miles military Milner Modder mountain Natal Native night north-east officers Orange Paul Kruger peace position President Steyn Pretoria reached rearguard reinforcements Reitz retreat Rey’s Rhodes rifles river Roberts Roberts’s rode round Schalk Burger scouts sent side siege Smuts soldiers South Africa Spearman’s Spion Kop strength summit supplies surrender Tabanyama troops Tugela Uitlanders Vaal veld Victorian Viljoen wagons western Transvaal Wet’s White wounded