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 has written the first full-scale history of the war since 1910. His narrative is based on first-hand and largely unpublished sources ranging from the private papers of the leading protagonists to the recollections of survivors from both sides. Out of this historical gold-mine, the author has constructed a narrative as vivid and fast-moving as a novel, and a history that in scholarship, breadth and impact will endure for many years.
- ‘Not only a magnum opus, it is a conclusive work . . . Enjoyable as well as massively impressive’ FINANCIAL TIMES
- ‘Hypnotically readable . . . A tremendous feat of research . . . this is grand-scale history with heroes and villains . . . hot, impassioned work, and I recommend it wholeheartedly’
- NEWSWEEK
- ‘This is a wonderful book: brilliantly written . . . the reader turns each page with increasing fascination and admiration’ A.J.P. TAYLOR
Paperback:
£12.99
Published 03/10/1991
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