This particular
conflict was, at the time, the greatest upheaval of the British Empire in militaristic terms: India had long
been under the yoke despite the great mutiny in 1857; the Crimea had been and gone and apart from the medals forged from the Russian guns and the veterans selling matches on street corners, was largely absent from the public mind. Even the Maoris in the relatively new colony of New Zealand - who all but destroyed every British and colonial army sent against them in almost every battle, and if the advantage had been pressed could have rid the land of the settlers if that was the overwhelming Maori wish - had passed into distant memory. Then came the Boer War. It gripped the empirical British with a new fervour, given their expansion and technological advances in warfare. Dating from 1899-1902, it shook the British war machine, and nation as a whole: the conflict seen as a gang of farmers ( Boer translates in old Dutch as 'farmer' ) pitted against the might of the redcoat ( now dressed sensibly in khaki after the debacles of the Zulu wars some 10 years previous ).
This book does a sterling job of giving
political and social background to the conflict, which raged in guerilla terms after the first 6 months. First printed in the mid 70's, and still printed up until at least the late 1990's, it does not overload with facts and figures as per standard
military history text, but enhances the events and actions with relative human stories: individual acts of courage from the battlefields of the velds; quotes from the personal diaries of layman, soldier, activist for and against the Boer side and the political and military heavyweights involved, and also is not without humour as it relays the incidents that peppered the various battles. This work relates the shows of mercy and compassion which are often so lacking in conflict, and yet are so prevalent in this particular one...shows which one might feel are unique to conflicts waged between Britain and her colonies at times.
Also, unusually for a piece like this, the text is interspersed with maps which, although hand drawn and clumsy in appearance at times, provide useful references for the geography of major battles.
All in all, Farwell has done a superb job, even providing at times comment from modern Boers whose relatives fought for their independence. He tells of the colonists who fought against the Boers and were regarded thereafter as traitors; the political aftermath which lays the foundation for the modern South Africa; the first use of barbed wire and concentration camps; the hardware used by the military on both sides, and the sympathy and condemnation in Britain of various events in the war, and of how the war itself which, though devastating and resonating to the Afrikaaners, was overshadowed in Europe by the Great War only 12 years later ).
Reading almost like a novel, it is at once informative, educative and touching...military historians will welcome it, and those not of an historical mote will find it a good solid read.