Customer Reviews

GOODBYE DOLLY GRAY: STORY OF THE BOER WAR

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Rayne Kruger was born in South Africa and can trace his antecedants to the Kruger family. The book was first published in 1959 and the title is a song sung by British Troops as they left England for Cape Town or Durban to "fight the Boers".

Unlike the Krugers of old, however, Rayne Kruger has a mastery of the English language that few can better.

The combination of his wonderful ability to describe and take the reader away to another time and his considerable efforts at research and analysis has resulted in a book that propels the subject to the reader in compelling, succinct way.

When you finish reading Kruger's work, you want to read more; he awakens a thirst for knowledge and piques one's interest - the hallmark of a successful historical work.

But the triumph of this book goes well beyond the eloquence of the narrative or the presentation of fact. The triumph of this work is that it glides through pivotal facts, personalities and the politics of conflict to ultimately present the reader with an incontovertible fact: that the Boer War is relevant to our condition to-day and its lessons ring like a bell in the night...

Kruger graphically introduces us to the psyche of the end of the Victorian era. It's parralles to the American era are strikingly familiar. The British in South Africa faced their Vietnam. A short war dragged on for three years. Public pressure to end the war grew. From a jingoistic beginning came a clamour to end it all.

Kruger's subtle analysis propels the Boer War forward into this century. The relevance of the Boer War as a precursor to both the politics of imperialism and the devaluation of human life which were such prominent characteristics of life in this century is brought before the reader in quiet slow degrees as one reads on into the book.

It is a book I highly recommend not only for students of the history of that era in Southern Africa, but for all of us who want to try and understand the psychology of the tragic and barbaric century that follo! wed.

This book is definitely the best book that I have ever read on the subject of the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902! The author of this book goes to great lengths to give the reader a feeling for the war itself, but goes far beyond just giving an account of the military side of the war. He does an excellent job of putting the war within the context of the British Victoria Era that it closes, and within the context of developments within Europe and around the world. As the war itself evolves, developments at home in England, and around the world are discussed. Plus, each battle is covered separately, being clearly delineated within its own section, with very nice maps included.

I must admit that I was somewhat afraid of this book; it was originally published in 1959, and I was afraid that it might be overly dry. However, to my surprise I found this to be a history book that is both fascinating and highly informative. Also, while some books suffer from a scarcity of maps, that is not the case with this book. Overall I found this to be an excellent book on its subject and an enjoyable read. If you are interested in the Anglo-Boer War, then you must get this book!