This is a very good general history of the Great Boer War.It benefits greatly from having a good introduction that tells the story of South Africa from the time of the earliest European colonists,through the history of the Voortrekkers,the First Anglo-Boer war and the Jameson raid,tracing the long tense relationship between the Boers and the British.
The book is supported by good clear maps,and a selection of contemporary sketches and photographs.Well recommended for anyone who wants to learn more about this sometimes neglected war.
This is a very good general history of the Great Boer War.It benefits greatly from having a good introduction that tells the story of South Africa from the time of the earliest European colonists,through the history of the Voortrekkers,the First Anglo-Boer war and the Jameson raid,tracing the long tense relationship between the Boers and the British.
Once into the war Farwell provides a good clear narrative,well illustrated with contemporary reports and letters.He copes well with the switch from conventional warfare to guerilla warfare half way through the war,and does not shrink from looking at some of the more unpalatable aspects of the war.He has a strong section on the infamous concentration camps that did so much harm to Britain's image at the time.Just as we have a good introduction,we also have a good conclusion,looking at some of the long terms consequences of the war.The only minor problem with this section is that Farwell was writing just before the fall of apartheid,and so some of his conclusions here are less relevant than they would have been at the time.
The book is supported by good clear maps,and a selection of contemporary sketches and photographs.Well recommended for anyone who wants to learn more about this sometimes neglected war.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
MAP: SOUTH AFRICA
PREFACE
PROLOGUE
1 The Birth of a People
2 Voortrekkers and Their Republics
3 The First Anglo-Boer War
4 The Jameson Raid
5 Moving Towards War
6 Eve of War
ACT ONE
7 The War Begins
8 Talana: The First Battle
9 Elandslaagte
10 The Battle of Ladysmith
11 Buller
12 Methuen
13 Magersfontein
14 Stormberg lunction
15 Before Colenso
16 Colenso
17 Black week
ACT TWO
18 Lord Roberts and Lord Kitchener
19 Tabanyama: Prelude to Spion Kop
20 Spion Kop
21 After Spion Kop: Vaal Krantz
22 The Great Flank March
23 The Siege of Kimberley
24 Paardeberg
25 The Siege of Ladysmith
26 BIoemfontien
27 Decisions at Kroonstad
28 The Boer Revival
29 On the March to Pretoria
30 Mafeking
31 Pretoria
32 After Pretoria: Roodewal and Brandwater Basin
34 Advance to Komatipoort
35 The End of the Second Act
ACT THREE
36 Commandos in Cape Colony
37 Smuts's Invasion of the Cape
38 Fighting the Guerrillas
39 Soldiering on the Veld
40 Guerrilla Life
41 The Concentration Camps and Emily Hobhouse
42 The Concentration Camps: The Ladies Committee
43 Prisoners of War
45 Vereeniging: The Bitter End
46 Epilogue: The Dust Settles
GLOSSARY
NOTES
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX
