Although in history books the significance of the Anglo Boer War pales by comparison with the two World Wars that followed, during the first half of the Twentieth Century it was at the root of a national crisis in South Africa. Memories of Kitchener’s Scorched Earth policy and the consequent suffering of women and children in concentration camps, together with Germany’s support for the Boer cause, led to a large section of the Afrikaner population rejecting the Smuts Government’s decision in 1939 to declare war against Germany and to talk of a coup d’etat.

The radical rift that that arose between the rival political groups, even within families, provides the backdrop to the story while it traces the radically divergent paths taken by two brothers as they follow their youthful passions amidst the anger, division, bitterness and grief of the times. The scene is set when the brothers, Pierre and Jan Rousseau, engage in a bloody fistfight over a teenage girl, Deidre, at Coffee Bay, a Wild Coast resort on South Africa’s eastern seaboard. The brothers’ relationship deteriorates further when war breaks out and they choose opposing sides in the conflict.

Jan and his university roommate Marius pledge allegiance to the Stormjaers, a militant wing of an Afrikaner political organisation. Following their participation in several incidents of sabotage, including an attempt to blow up a troop train, Jan is posted to a trading store near Coffee Bay to join a team that is supplying U-boats. While there, he studies the local ethnic language and gains a better understanding of the Xhosa people, their customs and culture. Later, in a poignant scene, he helps to rescue survivors from a torpedoed vessel and a young black soldier who grew up on the farm with him dies in his arms.

Meanwhile, Jan’s older brother Pierre sees active service with the South African Air Force in North Africa. When the British Eighth Army invades Southern Italy his plane is shot down and he is sheltered and nursed by a peasant family. He recovers from his injuries and manages to walk the ninety-odd miles over mountainous terrain to the Allied lines and return home.

A romantic thread runs through it. Unknown to Pierre, Deidre, had undergone a backyard abortion. While in North Africa he receives a Dear John letter from his girlfriend, Lisa, followed by a letter from Deidre expressing her condolences about the death of his father. They begin to correspond and despite a steamy relationship he has with the beautiful daughter of his Italian hostess, he and Deidre eventually marry. Meanwhile Lisa accompanies Jan’s mother on a visit to him in detention camp, which leads to them planning to marry when he is released.

The story reaches a climax with a fire-fight when Pierre, Deidre and a recuperating sailor set up an ambush in a cove for a U-boat crew and their local suppliers. Three of the four-man crew and a wounded supplier manage to escape, the Germans back to their submarine and the supplier up the coast. The escapee is Jan. He is captured, charged with high treason and sentenced to life-long detention.

There’s a twist in the tail when it’s discovered the father’s Will is invalid and that Pierre, who was his adopted son, is not the heir to the family farm as intended. However, Jan elects to follow a legal career and on his release the two couples become reconciled. In the final chapter each couple reflects on the impact that the War has had on them and their lives.

Abstract. This introduction sets the scene for the remainder of the book by considering first the international context of widespread concern about the improvement of numeracy skills. This is related to reform movements in the UK, the US and other countries aimed at modernising primary (elementary) school mathematics curricula. A detailed account is given of the National Numeracy Strategy in England, a systemic government-imposed response to concern about standards implemented in 1999/2000. This includes a discussion of the alternative meanings of numeracy. An earlier initiative sponsored by a UK charitable trust reacting to concern about primary numeracy was the Leverhulme Numeracy Research Programme. This large-scale longitudinal study and linked set of case-study projects, focusing on reasons for low attainment, took place during 1997-2002. This book, and each other in the same series, is based on results of that research. The timescale fortuitously enabled the research team to also report on some effects of the systemic reform in the National Numeracy Strategy. 1. THE INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT In many countries, there are recurring periods of national concern about the low standards of calculation skills shown by children in primary (elementary) schools. Recently these concerns have become more urgent and more political with the publication of international comparisons of mathematical achievement, first at secondary and more recently at primary level (e. g. Lapointe, Mead et al. 1992; Mullis et al. , 1997).

This is a continuation of the love story begun in the author’s previous novel, The Tame Khaki, in which the twenty-year-old Jack Whitelaw set off from his home in Dorset to fight the Boers in the southern tip of Africa. Wounded, he’s taken to a Ladysmith hospital, where falls in love with a beautiful young nurse, Rachel du Toit, a boerenooi, whose father and brothers are all fighting in a Boer commando. The love affair flourishes during the siege`– until Rachel is forced to flee Ladysmith and ends up in a British concentration camp. It’s now March 1902 and the war is virtually over. Shortly before Jack sailed for home, Rachel forgave him for his part in Milner’s ‘scorched earth policy’ and he returns to Pietermaritzburg determined to win her hand in marriage. His blissful life with his lovely wife and two little children on a farm in the Natal Midlands begins to transform when Britain declares war against Germany and his deep sense of loyalty to his excolleagues and The Old Country kicks in. Rachel is at first fiercely opposed to him again donning a British uniform but eventually relents, knowing Jack will continue to feel powerful pangs of guilt if he doesn’t. You’ll become deeply engrossed – at times saddened – by what occurs next.

It is 1899. A young English officer, Jack Whitelaw, leaves hearth, home and his lovely English rose to join his new battalion and help see off the Boer commandos, which have invaded The Natal Colony. The Challenges he faces prove far tougher than originally envisaged, especially when he is wounded and nursed in a Ladysmith hospital by a beautiful Dutch-speaking nurse, Rachel du Toit. Their idyllic romance is put to a severe test when Rachel is forced to flee Ladysmith and Jack’s battalion treks around Transvaal, fulfilling Lord Milner’s ‘scorched earth’ policy. You will be fascinated as you follow the physical and emotional trails Jack experiences during the Second Anglo- Boer War. Following his first novel, If I Retreat, Shoot Me, set against the backdrop of South Africa’s involvement in the Second World War, Dave Baker has again written an important and highly readable historical novel with honesty and authenticity we have come to expect from him, and I am delighted to be given the opportunity to recommend it to you. Patrick Coyne, The South African Writers’ Circle.

Die verklaring van oorlog teen Nazi-Duitsland deur die Smuts-regering ruk ? Afrikanerfamilie uiteen: Die wedywering tussen twee Vrystaatse broers neem dodelike afmetings aan wanneer sjarmante Pierre die romantiese keuse maak en by die lugmag in Noord-Afrika aansluit, en Jan, sy ewe aantreklike jonger broer, die eed van die militante vleuel van die Ossewa-Brandwag aflê: ? eed wat net deur die dood verbreek kan word.

Die broers se avonture tydens hierdie konfliktydperk bereik ? bloedstollende hoogtepunt wanneer Pierre uit Italië terugkeer en broer teen broer een donker nag op ? Pondolandse strand teen mekaar te staan kom. Hierdie verhaal weerspieël die diepe verdeeldheid wat die Tweede Wêreldoorlog tussen Suid-Afrikaners veroorsaak het: tussen families, vriende en kennisse; en waarvan die impak lewens verander het.

Die storie van die broers se ysingwekkende – en soms romantiese – eskapades beloof om die leser vasgenael te hou. Ek het dit geniet om weer aan die komplekse aard van oorlog herinner te word – en aan die rampspoedige gevolge wat beperkte toegang tot inligting eens vir die wêreld ingehou het. In ? era van twiets en blitsboodskappe is dit moeilik om mens in te dink in ? tyd toe mense werklik nie van die waarheid bewus was nie voor dit te laat was.

Abstract. This introduction sets the scene for the remainder of the book by considering first the international context of widespread concern about the improvement of numeracy skills. This is related to reform movements in the UK, the US and other countries aimed at modernising primary (elementary) school mathematics curricula. A detailed account is given of the National Numeracy Strategy in England, a systemic government-imposed response to concern about standards implemented in 1999/2000. This includes a discussion of the alternative meanings of numeracy. An earlier initiative sponsored by a UK charitable trust reacting to concern about primary numeracy was the Leverhulme Numeracy Research Programme. This large-scale longitudinal study and linked set of case-study projects, focusing on reasons for low attainment, took place during 1997-2002. This book, and each other in the same series, is based on results of that research. The timescale fortuitously enabled the research team to also report on some effects of the systemic reform in the National Numeracy Strategy. 1. THE INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT In many countries, there are recurring periods of national concern about the low standards of calculation skills shown by children in primary (elementary) schools. Recently these concerns have become more urgent and more political with the publication of international comparisons of mathematical achievement, first at secondary and more recently at primary level (e. g. Lapointe, Mead et al. 1992; Mullis et al. , 1997).

Although in history books the significance of the Anglo Boer War pales by comparison with the two World Wars that followed, during the first half of the Twentieth Century it was at the root of a national crisis in South Africa. Memories of Kitchener’s Scorched Earth policy and the consequent suffering of women and children in concentration camps, together with Germany’s support for the Boer cause, led to a large section of the Afrikaner population rejecting the Smuts Government’s decision in 1939 to declare war against Germany and to talk of a coup d’etat.

The radical rift that that arose between the rival political groups, even within families, provides the backdrop to the story while it traces the radically divergent paths taken by two brothers as they follow their youthful passions amidst the anger, division, bitterness and grief of the times. The scene is set when the brothers, Pierre and Jan Rousseau, engage in a bloody fistfight over a teenage girl, Deidre, at Coffee Bay, a Wild Coast resort on South Africa’s eastern seaboard. The brothers’ relationship deteriorates further when war breaks out and they choose opposing sides in the conflict.

Jan and his university roommate Marius pledge allegiance to the Stormjaers, a militant wing of an Afrikaner political organisation. Following their participation in several incidents of sabotage, including an attempt to blow up a troop train, Jan is posted to a trading store near Coffee Bay to join a team that is supplying U-boats. While there, he studies the local ethnic language and gains a better understanding of the Xhosa people, their customs and culture. Later, in a poignant scene, he helps to rescue survivors from a torpedoed vessel and a young black soldier who grew up on the farm with him dies in his arms.

Meanwhile, Jan’s older brother Pierre sees active service with the South African Air Force in North Africa. When the British Eighth Army invades Southern Italy his plane is shot down and he is sheltered and nursed by a peasant family. He recovers from his injuries and manages to walk the ninety-odd miles over mountainous terrain to the Allied lines and return home.

A romantic thread runs through it. Unknown to Pierre, Deidre, had undergone a backyard abortion. While in North Africa he receives a Dear John letter from his girlfriend, Lisa, followed by a letter from Deidre expressing her condolences about the death of his father. They begin to correspond and despite a steamy relationship he has with the beautiful daughter of his Italian hostess, he and Deidre eventually marry. Meanwhile Lisa accompanies Jan’s mother on a visit to him in detention camp, which leads to them planning to marry when he is released.

The story reaches a climax with a fire-fight when Pierre, Deidre and a recuperating sailor set up an ambush in a cove for a U-boat crew and their local suppliers. Three of the four-man crew and a wounded supplier manage to escape, the Germans back to their submarine and the supplier up the coast. The escapee is Jan. He is captured, charged with high treason and sentenced to life-long detention.

There’s a twist in the tail when it’s discovered the father’s Will is invalid and that Pierre, who was his adopted son, is not the heir to the family farm as intended. However, Jan elects to follow a legal career and on his release the two couples become reconciled. In the final chapter each couple reflects on the impact that the War has had on them and their lives.