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.
General
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