The Boer War of 1899-1902 was an epic of heroism and bungling, cunning and barbarism, with an extraordinary cast of characters - including Churchill, Rhodes, Conan Doyle, Smuts, Kipling, Gandhi, Kruger and Kitchener. The war revealed the ineptitude of the British military and unexpectedly exposed the corrupt underside of imperialism in the establishment of the first concentration camps, the shooting of Boer prisoners-of-war and the embezzlement of military supplies by British officers. This acclaimed book provides a complete history of the Boer War - from the first signs of unrest to the eventual peace. In the process, it debunks several of the myths which have grown up around the conflict and explores the deadly legacy it left for southern Africa.

After the outbreak of the Anglo-Boer War, hundreds of women left their countries for South Africa, some in search of adventure, others with a genuine desire to help the victims of war. They came from all over the world – from Britain and its colonies, and from pro-Boer countries in Europe. But, whatever their origins, they all came to live and work under harsh conditions that were foreign to them. Angels of Mercy tells the story of twelve of these brave women. Hailing from England, the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, some worked as nurses on the frontline, while others came to teach Boer children in the concentration camps. Based on personal diaries and letters, as well as other wartime sources, this fascinating and inspiring book tells of their trials and tribulations as they dealt with the dangers of war, the extremes of the environment, and the sad eyes of the dying men under their care. Theirs are stories of compassion and courage.

In the first half of the nineteenth century, Southern Africa was a jumble of British colonies, Boer republics and African chiefdoms, a troublesome region of little interest to the outside world. Into this frontier world came the Reitz family, Afrikaner gentry from the Cape, who settled in Bloemfontein and played a key role in the building of the Orange Free State.

Frank Reitz, successively chief justice and modernising president of the young republic, went on to serve as State Secretary of the Transvaal Republic. In 1899, he stood shoulder to shoulder with President Paul Kruger to resist Britain’s war of conquest in Southern Africa. At the heart of this tale is the extraordinary life of Deneys Reitz, third son of Frank Reitz and Bianca Thesen. The young Reitz’s account of his adventures in the field during the Anglo-Boer War (1899–1902), published as Commando, became a classic of irregular warfare. After a period of exile in Madagascar, he went on become one of South Africa’s most distinguished lawyers, statesmen and soldiers. Martin Meredith interweaves Reitz’s experiences, taken from his unpublished notebooks, with the wider story of Britain’s brutal suppression of Boer resistance.

Concise and readable, Afrikaner Odyssey is a wide-ranging portrait of an aristocratic Afrikaner family whose achievements run like fine thread through these turbulent times, and whose presence is still marked on the South African landscape.

Reflecting on South Africa´s achievement of majority rule, these volumes take a critical and searching look at the country´s past.

With chapters contributed by the best historians of the country, the volumes elaborately weave together new data, interpretations, and perspectives on the South African past, from the Early Iron Age to the present.

Their findings incorporate new sources, methods, and concepts and represent an important reassessment of all the major historical events, developments, and records of South Africa - written, oral, and archaeological.

Sandwiched between the glamour and heroism of the Zulu War, and the controversy and bitterness of the Boer War, the Matabele Wars of the 1890s have long been southern Africa's forgotten colonial wars. There is no denying that the Matabele Wars are a lot less romantic and photogenic than the Zulu War. The wonky, unreliable Gatlings and ludicrous rocket batteries of the Zulu War had given way to the highly effective Maxim guns that were seeing major action for the first time. Nevertheless, the Matabele warriors showed every bit as much heroism, determination and elan as had their kinsmen in the Zulu War. With oft-claimed links to the infamous Jameson Raid, the origins of the second Matabele War are as fascinating and controversial as those of the first, and it was a dirty, hard-fought guerrilla war, more akin to the African bush wars of the 1960s and '70s than those waged at the height of the colonial period. The brutal murders of women and children committed by the insurgents and the widespread use of dynamite to entomb rebels in their subterranean hiding places both sparked fury and condemnation at the time, but aside from the butchery, actions such as the Mazoe Patrol were as heroic as anything of the age. This is the first history which covers both wars in a single volume, allowing the reader to see how they flowed seamlessly into one another and how they impacted on the southern Africa. Written in Ash's typical no-holds-barred style, the book thunders along rather than tiptoeing round modern political niceties. Special attention is given to the many outlandish characters of the period: old-school savage tyrant Chief Lobengula, the ambitious and ever-scheming Cecil Rhodes, and the rascally Dr Jameson, of course...but also men like Captain Lendy, one of very few men in history to have died from putting a shot, Frederick Selous, the archetypal great white hunter, Kagubi the infamous witchdoctor who whipped up so much trouble during the rebellion, not to mention the likes of Plumer, Forbes, Wilson, Colenbrander, Burnham, Baden-Powell, Gifford and the extraordinary `Maori' Hamilton-Browne. Indeed, the cast is probably the most fascinating part of the tale: adventurous young Anglo-Saxons from every corner of the empire and a few old Indian fighters from the American West, who all found themselves thousands of miles from home facing a valiant and terrifying enemy.

In October 1899, tens of thousands of Boer horsemen poured over their borders, sparking the Boer War by invading the British territories of Natal, Cape Colony, Bechuanaland and Rhodesia. The long hoped for, and openly stated, aim was to drive the British from Southern Africa. Overwhelming the outnumbered and unprepared colonial garrisons, the invaders pushed forwards, annexing the land they grabbed, looting villages and farms, renaming towns and introducing their racist laws. Over a century of propaganda - first by Afrikaner nationalists, then by the Apartheid regime and now even by the ANC government - has reinvented these invasions, styling Kruger's republic as the innocent victim of British aggression, desperate only to preserve their independence. Released in 2014, `Kruger Kommandos & Kak' exploded onto the scene to shatter these and many other long-cherished myths of the Boer War. This updated and greatly expanded edition builds on this, and will prompt the intelligent and open-minded reader to re-evaluate everything he thought he knew about the conflict. Uncomfortable reading for some, `Kruger's War' tells the truth of the Boer War - the side which the Apartheid regime's propaganda machine did not want you to hear.

'Spirit of District Six' presents over 40 photographs by award winning photographer Cloete Breytenbach, which capture the atmosphere of District Six in Cape Town before 1966, when it was a vibrant, racially mixed community.

Even though the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902 ended more than 110 years ago, no extensive study on the sites of remembrance of this war that covers the country as a whole and is based on methodological research has thus far been published.

This book is aimed at filling that void. This is a study of commemorative sites with a difference. The text guides the reader in two ways simultaneously. In the first place it provides information on the vast number (more than 1 200) and wide range of Anglo-Boer War places of remembrance in South Africa. These include monuments, memorials such as plaques and tablets, historical sites such as battlefields and concentration camp locations, buildings that have a specific connection with the war, statues, busts and bas-relief sculptures, historical paintings, museum collections and, of course, since it has to do with a war, cemeteries and graves.

Secondly, the book places all the sites that are included in their historical context. To simply indicate the approximate location of a war site, without providing a proper indication on how the site fits into the broad history of the event that it commemorates, is of limited value. For that reason the places of remembrance are introduced to the reader against the background of the history which they mirror. This means in effect that the reader acquires, together with information on the places of remembrance, a concise history of the war as a whole. As a result the book will not only be useful to readers who travel to the sites, but also to readers and users who are not actually travelling (virtual tourists).

Following on an introduction on the nature and scope of the commemorative places of the Anglo-Boer War, the sites are introduced in a thematic-chronological manner. The book is based on extensive research and field work. The author himself visited and photographed more than 90% of the sites that are included. A large number of sources were consulted to ensure the correctness of the information that is provided.

Even though the book is research-based, and will be useful to both scholars on the war and the general public, ideological issues are not discussed. The focus is on the physical places of remembrance as such. The book is written from a neutral point of departure – it is neither pro-Briton nor pro-Boer. Approximately 60% of the places of remembrance that are included in the book commemorate the British forces and 40% the Republican forces.

Wednesday 22 January 1879 was one of the most dramatic days in the long and distinguished history of the British Army. At noon a massive Zulu host attacked the 24th Regiment in its encampment at the foot of the mountain of Isandlwana, a distinctive feature that bore an eerie resemblance to the Sphinx badge of the outnumbered redcoats. Disaster ensued. Later that afternoon the victorious Zulus would strike the tiny British garrison at Rorke's Drift. How Can Man Die Better is a unique analysis of Isandlwana - of the weapons, tactics, ground, and the intriguing characters who made the key military decisions. Because the fatal loss was so high on the British side there is still much that is unknown about the battle. This is a work of unparalleled depth, which eschews the commonly held perception that the British collapse was sudden and that the 24th Regiment was quickly overwhelmed. Rather, there was a protracted and heroic defence against a determined and equally heroic foe. The author reconstructs the final phase of the battle in a way that has never been attempted before. It was to become the stuff of legend, which brings to life so vividly the fear and smell the blood.

Winner of the Mbokodo Award for Women in the Arts for Literature, the ATKV (Afrikaans Language and Culture Association) Award for non-fiction and the kykNet/Rapport Award for non-fiction. 'Here was Emily . . . in these diaries and scrapbooks. An unprecedented, intimate angle on the real Emily' Elsabe Brits has drawn on a treasure trove of previously private sources, including Emily Hobhouse's diaries, scrap-books and numerous letters that she discovered in Canada, to write a revealing new biography of this remarkable Englishwoman. Hobhouse has been little celebrated in her own country, but she is still revered in South Africa, where she worked so courageously, selflessly and tirelessly to save lives and ameliorate the suffering of thousands of women and children interned in camps set up by British forces during the Anglo-Boer War, in which it is estimated that over 27,000 Boer women and children died; and where her ashes are enshrined in the National Women's Monument in Bloemfontein. During the First World War, Hobhouse was an ardent pacifist. She organised the writing, signing and publishing in January 1915 of the 'Open Christmas Letter' addressed 'To the Women of Germany and Austria'. In an attempt to initiate a peace process, she also secretly metwith the German foreign minister Gottlieb von Jagow in Berlin, for which some branded her a traitor. In the war's immediate aftermath she worked for the Save the Children Fund in Leipzig and Vienna, feeding daily for over a year thousands of children, who would otherwise have starved. She later started her own feeding scheme to alleviate ongoing famine. Despite having been instrumental in saving thousands of lives during two wars, Hobhouse died alone - spurned by her country, her friends and even some of her relatives. Brits brings Emily's inspirational and often astonishing story, spanning three continents, back into the light.

In early 1900, the paths of three British writers-Rudyard Kipling, Mary Kingsley and Arthur Conan Doyle-crossed in South Africa, during what's become known as Britain's last imperial war. Each of the three had pressing personal reasons to leave England behind, but they were also motivated by notions of duty, service, patriotism and, in Kipling's case, jingoism. Sarah LeFanu compellingly opens an unexplored chapter of these writers' lives, at a turning point for Britain and its imperial ambitions. Was the South African War, as Kipling claimed, a dress rehearsal for the Armageddon of World War One? Or did it instead foreshadow the anti-colonial guerrilla wars of the later twentieth century? Weaving a rich and varied narrative, LeFanu charts the writers' paths in the theatre of war, and explores how this crucial period shaped their cultural legacies, their shifting reputations, and their influence on colonial policy.

Met die uitbreek van die Tweede Anglo-Boereoorlog in 1899 het 'n groot aantal Hollanders en Hollandse uitgewekenes by die Boere aangesluit. Hul redes het gewissel van lojaliteit teenoor hul gemeenskaplike afkoms tot sterk anti-Britse gevoelens en 'n soeke na avontuur. Broers in die stryd vertel van hierdie vrywilligers se beproewings – die meeste van hulle was ongewoond aan Suid-Afrika se ruwe landskap en strawwe klimaat. Aanhalings en persoonlike staaltjies uit hul dagboeke en memoires skilder 'n lewendige beeld van hul ontberings op kommando, die gedonder en chaos op die slagveld, en die trauma van kamerade wat rondom hulle sneuwel. Van die bekende figure in die boek is Cornelius van Gogh, broer van die skilder Vincent van Gogh; Frans Oerder, wat die Transvaal se eerste amptelike oorlogskunstenaar geword het; Jochem van Bruggen, wat die gesogte Hertzogprys vir Afrikaanse letterkunde vier keer gewen het; en ds. Herman van Broekhuizen, wat in 1896 vir Suid-Afrika rugby gespeel het en later as Suid-Afrikaanse ambassadeur in Den Haag gedien het. Broers in die stryd dek die hele spektrum van die Hollanders se rolle as soldate aan die verskillende gevegsfronte, ambulanspersoneel en militêre attaches, en hul lewe in oorsese krygsgevangenekampe.

When the Second Boer War erupted in South Africa in 1899, Great Britain was confident that victory would come quickly and decisively. Instead, the war lasted for three grueling years. To achieve final victory, the British government was forced to depend not only on its Regular Army but also on a large volunteer force. This book spotlights Britain's "citizen army" to show who these volunteers were, why they enlisted, how they were trained-and how they quickly became disillusioned when they found themselves committed not to the supposed glories of conventional battle but instead to a prolonged guerrilla war.In Volunteers on the Veld, Stephen M. Miller focuses on the connection between Britain's auxiliary forces-volunteers, militia, and yeomanry-and its imperial mission during the late Victorian era, looking especially at why the British war effort came to depend on their performance. Miller examines motivations for enlistment, the use of citizen-soldiers in guerrilla warfare, and the effects of combat on the soldiers themselves, weaving together the sense of national emergency, the influence of popular culture, and images of manhood that propelled so many Britons into the ranks of volunteers. By revisiting one of the most significant guerrilla wars of the modern age-and one of the earliest examples of the use of modern media to promote mobilization for a foreign war-Volunteers on the Veld lends fresh insight into British imperial warfare while suggesting unmistakable parallels between these citizen-soldiers and today's American volunteers in Iraq.

This authoritative, yet hugely readable, book traces the history of the Zulus from their arrival in South Africa they were not indigenous as were the Koi and San population and the establishment of Zululand. It describes the violent rise of King Shaka and his colourful successors under whose leadership the warrior nation built its fiercesome reputation. It studies the tactics and weapons employed during the numerous inter-tribal battles that occurred. The Zulus real struggle for survival, rather than supremacy, came in wars against the white settlers. In 1877/78 they defeated the Boers in the Sekunini War and this prompted British intervention. Initially the might of the British empire was humbled but the 1879 war, despite the shock Zulu victory at Isandlwana, saw the crushing of the Zulu Nation. The little known consequences of the division of Zululand, the Boer War and the 1906 Zulu Rebellion are analysed in fascinating detail.

In A Man Apart Richard Steyn once again brings to life a South African icon. Louis Botha was the first Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa, a union he did much to create in the decade after the devastation of the Anglo-Boer War. During the war Botha was a brilliant young Boer general who through his battlefield strategy won significant victories over the British in the early stages of the war. When the weight of British arms overhelmed the Boers, Botha along with Smuts did much to encourage peace between English and Afrikaner and led the country to Union in 1910 and dominion status.

Botha was a big-hearted and generous man who showed magnanimity in his dealings with all, including former enemies. He led the South African troops to victory and the capture of German South West Africa – prior to this he had to put down a revolt of pro-German Afrikaners. At the Peace of Versailles, representing South Africa, he pleaded unsuccessfully for magnanimity towards the Germans. Botha was a globally respected figure – he and Smuts effectively operated as a double act in South Africa and on the international stage before Botha’s untimely death in August 1919 at only 57. In A Man Apart this tragically short life is illuminated in full.

Na die vernietiging van eiendom, kultuur, ekonomie en sy psige, in die afloop van die Anglo-Boereoorlog (1899 -1902) en 1e Wereldoorlog (1914 – 1918) herrys die Afrikaner as 'n gedugte gemeenskap aan die suidpunt van Afrika. Die saakmakende rol wat die Afrikaner-Broederbond gespeel het om die heropbouproses te begin en te fasiliteer is later deur die Afrikanerbond voortgesit. Werklikhede in die organisasie se 100-jarige bestaan word op ‘n nugtere wyse vir die leser aangebied en wanpersepsies word reggetrek. Openhartige en waarderende kritiek word in enkele onderhoude blootgele. Niemand moet twyfel oor die doelstellings van die organisasie en sy lede se lojaliteit en verbintenis teenoor Suid Afrika nie.

Daar is nie ’n grondpad te sinkplaat, plaasdraad te hoog of aanwysings te gebrekkig om Jackie Grobler te keer nie. As hy eers ’n monument in sy visier het, sal hy dit vind.

In hierdie boek reis hy oor berge en dale van Lichtenburg in Noordwes tot die heuwels van Tabankulu in die Oos-Kaap. Grobler reis onder meer op die spoor van Voortrekker Carel Trichardt deur Mpumalanga en in KwaZulu-Natal gaan hy na die slagvelde van die Anglo-Zoeloeoorlog. In Gauteng vind hy monumente ter ere van twee van Suid-Afrika se grootste leiers: Nelson Mandela en Jan Smuts. In die Vrystaat soek hy na oorblyfsels van twee konsentrasiekampe en in Limpopo kom hy af op monumente aan ’n Anglo-Boereoorlogkanon (die Long Tom). Sy reise na die Oos-Kaap neem hom na gedenkplekke vir Steve Biko en in die Wes-Kaap gaan hy op die spoor van die Portugese ontdekkingsreisigers.

Elke provinsie sal ’n kaart hê wat die monumente aandui.

Almost one hundred and twenty five years ago, a Scottish adventurer attempted to expand the British Empire in South Africa with the backing of a mere 500 men. He was part of a conspiracy of entrepreneurs, gold magnates and politicians, each of whom had different motives for supporting and encouraging his actions. Leander Starr Jameson's Raid failed miserably. It almost brought down the British Government, destroyed the career of one of the most eminent South African Statesmen, nearly caused a war with the South African Republic and exposed Britain to international ridicule. It was a failed attempt to expand the Empire on the cheap. This book, using a number of contemporary sources, examines the motives for Jameson's actions, the reasons for the Raid's failure and its consequences for those involved. It attempts to answer the extent of the involvement of the British Colonial Office and its Secretary of State, Joseph Chamberlain and how he, Cecil Rhodes, Paul Kruger and Jameson worked for their own and their countries best interests which were not necessarily one in the same.It also considers the part played by the dignitaries in Johannesburg and the consequences of their lukewarm support of Dr Jameson. The book contains a detailed examination of the two Inquiries which were held as a result of the Raid and a blow by blow account of the evidence given by their many witnesses. Reactions in the British Parliament and the fate of the Raiders are particular features of this work,as is how the actions of those swept up in the plans of the key players were to affect their future careers.

Meer as ’n honderd jaar na die laaste skote in die Anglo-Boereoorlog geklap het, word genl. Christiaan de Wet steeds bewonder as onverbiddelike bittereinder, die held wat tot die einde toe volhard het. Sy jonger broer, Piet, word onthou as die joiner. In Broedertwis probeer Albert Blake verstaan waarom hulle lynreg in stryd met mekaar gekom het. Wie was reg? Christiaan, wat ten alle koste die vryheidstryd wou voer, of Piet, wat ’n einde aan die smart en lyding van die oorlog wou bring?