Better known for his Sherlock Holmes books, Conan Doyle's book was one of the first complete histories of the Anglo-Boer War as-it-happened.Published in 1902, Doyle's book became the standard by which all other histories of that conflict became to be measured. "Take a community of Dutchmen of the type of those who defended themselves for fifty years against all the power of Spain at a time when Spain was the greatest power in the world. "Intermix with them a strain of those inflexible French Huguenots who gaveup home and ...
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Better known for his Sherlock Holmes books, Conan Doyle's book was one of the first complete histories of the Anglo-Boer War as-it-happened.Published in 1902, Doyle's book became the standard by which all other histories of that conflict became to be measured. "Take a community of Dutchmen of the type of those who defended themselves for fifty years against all the power of Spain at a time when Spain was the greatest power in the world. "Intermix with them a strain of those inflexible French Huguenots who gaveup home and fortune and left their country for ever at the time of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The product must obviously be one of the most rugged, virile, unconquerable races ever seen upon earth. "Take this formidable people and train them for seven generations in constant warfare against savage men and ferocious beasts, in circumstances under which no weakling could survive, place them so that they acquire exceptional skill with weapons and in horsemanship, give them a country which is eminently suited to the tactics of the huntsman, the marksman, and the rider. "Then, finally, put a finer temper upon their military qualities by a dour fatalistic Old Testament religion and an ardent and consuming patriotism. "Combine all these qualities and all these impulses in one individual, and you have the modern Boer-the most formidable antagonist who ever crossed the path of Imperial Britain. "Our military history has largely consisted in our conflicts with France, but Napoleon and all his veterans have never treated us so roughly as these bard-bitten farmers with their ancient theology and their inconveniently modern rifles."-From the first chapter. Now completely reset with two dozen unique and rare pictures from the conflict.
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Add this copy of The Great Boer War to cart. $84.57, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2019 by Blurb.
I had hoped for more detail about the politics, history, and people involved. The main characters. What I found, as have many other reviewers, was an extremely detailed list of military actions. Amazing really in the detail down the individual names and remarks about them like 'the great cricketeer'. I slugged my way through 95% of the books hoping for some overview commentary that was not entirely self-serving to the British government. Never happened. The stance taken was that the Boers started the war, their leaders duplicitous and greedy. Only once or twice does he refer to the internment of women and children by the British (27,000 of whom died of disease, neglect and hunger) only to scoff at any accusations of wrong doing by the British. I simply couldn't stomach the self-serving drivel about how sacrosanct was the British position. It became insulting to the intelligence of any person who has read anything about the colonization activities of Great Britain and their terror of losing their world dominant position to read (other than skim) the last 25 pages or so hoping for some kernel of truth. Overall interesting from a military point of view but as to an accurate portrayal of how the war(s) started and the reasons, not to be recommended.
