Customer Reviews

The Boer War

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In my opinion, works of history are to be judged by two standards: (1)Is it readable? Much history is dry, wooden, and laborious. Pakenham's book, however, is exceptionally readable. The narrative flows quickly, and while at first it is sometimes difficult to keep tabs on all the players, he seems mindful of this, and reminds the reader why a certain character is re-entering the story.

But much history that is readable is just as often trite, superficial, hopelessly popularized, or worse, just plain bad history. This brings me to the second standard (2): Does the author interact with the original sources? Or does he/she merely repeat what others have written on the subject?

Pakenham did his research. He engages original sources, actually interviewed Boer War veterans, and even did some interesting detective work to uncover more documents germaine to the topic. Many of his conclusions are probably controversial, but whether one agrees with him or not, one has to grant that he does engage the original sources.

One more thing worth mentioning: This work is noticably lacking in the self-concious national self-flagelation that marks historical scholarship in the last decade. There is no need for Pakenham to say, "Imperialism was so awful!", because he lets the historical actions (and actors) speak for themselves. The result is a moral stance that is not pedantically moralistic.

A well done narrative of the Boer War. Pakenham has written a book which resists the easy path of political correctness and dosen't engage in simple minded ideology. He has attempted to show both sides as truthfully as possible. His one very daring act is the effort to show General Buller in a different light - going against decades of historians that have written him off as nothing but an incompetent. Just another example of the idiots that were in charge of the British military in the ninteenth century, as if comptence in the British Army ceased to exsist after Wellington died. It is a bold attempt and one which I believe Pakenham does very well.

Pakenham also excells in his effort to show how very difficult it is to maintain control of troops on the battlefield. Garbeled communications, faulty intelligence,monumental egos, morale, unexpected effects of new weapons metting up with outdated tactics - all of these and more are detailed beautifully by Pakenham. I was somewhat suprised that the Boers are shown as not all conquering and often had even more problems then the British. Their troops were wildly undisciplined and were better at partisan warfare or serving in defensive actions. When it came to offensive action against disciplined troops the Boers were actually miserable failures. This is a common trait found in what is now know as "irregular forces". Pakenham looks at both sides and shows that war could have been avoided at almost every step, but personal and national egos and ambition kept getting in the way. Naturally Pakenham draws the inevitable comparisons to World War One and they are very clear.

All in all this is a balanced and very readable work. When I first picked it up I was unsure of what I would find. In the past I've found many of the modern African historians to be extremely left wing and lacking in perspective. Pakenham is an exception to the rule and for that I give him five stars. Well done!

Having got this at the same time as Scramble for Africa (same author, which also lightly covered this war) I was not expecting much. I was very suprised to find that the Boer war is very intriguing in itself. I have to admit that I like Packenhams style and find his history books read like Novels. Of course they are history books and there is a lot to learn so take your time. If you haven't read Scramble for Africa then read that first, then the Boer war will give you more detail (within context of the whole African scramble) of how South Africa became what it was and is.

The book basically describes that this war should never have happened, and only did so because of the greed of individuals and the incompetence of the British government. Then the war that followed gave a preview of what might happen in a World War (WWI) although few lessons seem to have been learned.

Pakenham's exploration of the Boer War is dense and exhaustive, but ultimately readable. It traces the follies, bloodshed, and innovations that surrounded the war that began with the British annexation of the Transvaal region. Goes through the major battles and politics in close detail, but is lacking most sense of the Dutch/Boer perspective on the war. I would like to have seen more about the concentration camps from the Boer side and it would have been interesting to have more coverage of the European (particularly Dutch) response to the British actions.

A very well researched book. I found it so exciting that I could not lay it down. I buy it for all my visitors to South Africa. It helps to understand how South Africa developed in the past 100 years and provides insight to the emergence of political, social and business developments. Despite the horrors of war, the book describes innovations which occured. Although born in the UK in the end I have great sympathy for the Afrikaaners and the sufferings they endured in the name of preserving South Africa for the crown.

One of the final wars of British imperialism, it could be labeled the first "modern" war. Thomas Parkenham does a wonderful job describing the genesis to the unfortunate end of a war that went from a being a bloody slugfest between conventional armies to a guerilla war boarding on a civil war. If you want to understand how a nation can win a war yet lose the peace, here is the story of how Britain "won" two colonies and in reality gave the Boers two of their own in the end. A terrific book recommended for anyone with any remote interest in South African history or the British in Africa. I highly recommend this book.

I'm very pleased that Thomas Pakenham's classic has been reissued as an affordable paperback. Now I can stop borrowing the library's hardcover copy. This is without doubt the finest, most authoritative general history of the Boer War. Pakenham's lively writing style makes the book readable and enjoyable, and the scholarship is so good that you know what you are reading is reliable.

This is a pet subject for me, so I've digested lots of material on the Boer War. Pakenham's work still, after 30+ years, stands the test of time as one of the most exhaustive and definitive works on the Boer War. Some of the reviews are pointing out the lack of Boer input in Pakenham's research. Much of this was done for two reasons (1) Outside of selected scholarly works in Afrikaans utilized by Pakenham, much of Boer literature on the subject has been twisted into legend, lore and folktales that skew from original events. (2) The two main Boer generals to emerge as South African statesmen after the war, Louis Botha and Jan Smuts, became in many ways more British than Boer. A champion of the empire and internationalism, Smuts wrote the preamble to the UN Charter and opposed the National Party that imposed apartheid two years before his death. All in all, this work is a great overall look at the conflict. Definitely look at his bibliography to delve further.

An absolutely fantastic work of history, covering with the neccessary depth the events and personalities, with a particularly fine analysis of the political background to the war, both in Britain and in South Africa.

Pakenham does an excellent job in outlining the origins of this classic colonial 'empire building' conflict. From the political climate of the antagonists to the battlefields he has made an historical non-fiction book as good as any fiction I have encountered. Not taking anything away from his skill, but with the material that history has provided us this feat is hardly a stretch. Detailed battle accounts are included from the grand tactical to eyewitness and first person accounts, with some photos and maps. A great primer on the conflict, and a must for students of the period, place, or conflict itself.