Featuring previously unpublished sources, this 'enjoyable as well as massively impressive' bestseller is a definitive account of the Boer War (Financial Times) The war declared by the Boers on 11 October 1899 gave the British, as Kipling said, 'no end of a lesson'. It proved to be the longest, the costliest, the bloodiest and the most humiliating campaign that Britain fought between 1815 and 1914. Thomas Pakenham's narrative is based on first-hand and largely unpublished sources ranging from the private papers of the ...
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Featuring previously unpublished sources, this 'enjoyable as well as massively impressive' bestseller is a definitive account of the Boer War (Financial Times) The war declared by the Boers on 11 October 1899 gave the British, as Kipling said, 'no end of a lesson'. It proved to be the longest, the costliest, the bloodiest and the most humiliating campaign that Britain fought between 1815 and 1914. Thomas Pakenham's narrative is based on first-hand and largely unpublished sources ranging from the private papers of the leading protagonists to the recollections of survivors from both sides. Mammoth in scope and scholarship, as vivid, fast-moving and breathtakingly compelling as the finest fiction. The Boer War is the definitive account of this extraordinary conflict - a war precipitated by greed and marked by almost inconceivable blundering and brutalities...and whose shattering repercussions can be felt to this very day. 'Not only a magnum opus, it is a conclusive work ... Enjoyable as well as massively impressive' - Financial Times 'This is a wonderful book: brilliantly written ... the reader turns each page with increasing fascination and admiration' -A.J.P. Taylor
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Good. No Jacket. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall Copy in illustrated card wraps. Slight crease along centre of spine. Free of inscriptions. Clean text with b/w plates.
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Recently, I had the opportunity to re-read (for the fourth time) Thomas Pakenham's magisterial history on the subject of, and titled, "The Boer War." This is an outstanding work at many levels: (i) great writing and use of primary sources including interviews of seventy (70) surviving Boer War veterans alive at the time of drafting; (ii) an excellent example of history as entertaining storytelling in the tradition of Thomas Carlyle; and (iii) gleaning insights from history as it relates to wars being fought more recently, indeed, even today.
I have recommended this work to students of Western military history (and used it myself as a source for research papers while as an undergraduate and graduate student), afficionados of British history and those studying insurgencies. It is a serious work for the military historian of the 1890-1914 period revealing the larger trends of war emerging in that era and providing parallels in the recent wars that the Superpowers have conducted in southwest Asia since 1979 (which incidentally is its year of publication). This book is also just plain fun to read and also recommended to the history enthusiast at large describing the oversized personalities of British and Boer political and military leaders, strategy and tactics and the life of the common soldier of both sides as well as the participation in this war of such future great leaders such as Mohandas Gandhi and Winston Churchill.
Read, learn and enjoy !
Wellington
Apr 19, 2012
Great overview
The book gives a comprehensive history of the Boer War. Great reading for those of us who want more background of the major players of the First World War.
Zippy
Dec 12, 2008
Great Book!
Wealth of information written as a novel. The author has obviously done his homework. We did not learn this in History class! Don't think you will finish this in one session. As an ex South African I was fascinated by this book. If you are interested in the history this is a must read.......
