Isandlwana 1879: The Great Zulu Victory (Campaign) [Paperback]

Ian Knight (Author), Adam Hook (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 18, 2002 | Series: Campaign (Book 111)

Osprey's study of the battle of Isandlwana, which was fought on 22 January 1879 and was the greatest defeat suffered by the British Army during the Zulu War (1879). A Zulu army of 24,000 warriors had moved undetected to within striking distance of the British camp in the shadow of Isandlwana Mountain. From the start the 1,700 defenders underestimated the danger descending upon them. They were swept aside with horrifying speed and the final stage of the battle consisted of desperate hand-to-hand fighting amid the British camp. Over 1,300 men were killed; scarcely 60 Europeans survived. Ian Knight employs new archaeological and historical research to provide a completely new interpretation of the course of the battle.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Highly visual guides to history's greatest conflicts, detailing the command strategies, tactics, and experiences of the opposing forces throughout each campaign, and concluding with a guide to the battlefields today.

About the Author

Ian Knight is widely regarded as a leading international expert on the Anglo-Zulu War. He has written, co-written or edited over 30 books, including several in the Osprey Men-at-Arms, Elite, Warrior and Campaign series. He is an Honorary Research Associate of the Natal Museum and Vice President of the Anglo Zulu War Historical Society. In 2000 he was the historian advising the Glasgow University team who made the first archaeological survey of the Isandlwana battlefield.

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Osprey Publishing (September 18, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1841765112
• ISBN-13: 978-1841765112
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 0.2 x 9.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #701,660 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Once More, Over the Same Ground, October 4, 2002

By 

R. A Forczyk (MD, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Isandlwana 1879: The Great Zulu Victory (Campaign) (Paperback)

In 1992, Osprey's Campaign Series #14 entitled Zulu War 1879 by Ian Knight and Ian Castle, covered the dramatic Battle of Isandlwana. Ten years later, Ian Knight thought it would be a good idea to cover virtually the same ground in the new Osprey Campaign Series #111, entitled Isandlwana 1879. Granted, the focus is narrower than in the earlier volume and the graphic quality of the maps is superior, but this book essentially covers much of the same ground that the first book did. While the original title only spent 30% of its length on the Battle of Isandlwana, this new volume spends 55%. Overall, Isandlwana 1879 is a decent if not very original summary of that British military disaster, but it certainly lacks any real value-added quality over the original.

Isandlwana 1879 begins in standard Osprey format with the usual short sections on origins of the conflict, a campaign chronology, opposing commanders, opposing armies, and opening moves. Readers will certainly be impressed with the author's in-depth knowledge of Zulu leaders and units, but might have benefited from a short pronunciation guide on how to handle names like "iNgobamakhosi" or "uKhandempemvu" or just what the heck these names mean. At times, Knight seems to have the zealot's assumption that everyone in conversant in African tribal terms and hence, further clarification is unnecessary. Overall, these sections get the job done but in somewhat boilerplate fashion, as if Knight merely dusted off material from his other books. Readers familiar with the classic, "Washing of the Spears," will doubt that Knight is making a real effort to be incisive. The volume includes six 2-D maps (the war in Zululand, the attack on Sihayo's Homestead, Isandlwana Camp, initial dispositions, the British collapse, Chelmsford's movements and the British withdrawals), three 3-D "Bird's Eye View" maps (British movements around Isandlwana, climax of the battle and the British collapse) and three battle scenes (Durnford's auxiliaries stumble on the Zulu army, the British collapse and the final stages of the battle).

Knight notes that none of the Zulu commanders had any experience fighting British regulars and that, "a practical ignorance of the destructive potential of the modern weapons they [the British] possessed, had led to a dangerous over-confidence at the middle and lower levels of command." On the other hand, the British commander Lord Chelmsford was influenced by preconceptions gained in previous frontier warfare in Africa. Knight notes that in Chelmsford's earlier campaign against the Xhosa tribe that he, "faced only an elusive foe who showed a marked reluctance to engage in decisive combat." This sounds remarkably like the preconceived tactical mindset that influenced Custer three years earlier at the Little Bighorn. Yet if both sides were over-confident and didn't appreciate their enemy's strengths - as Knight claims - why was Isandlwana such a lop-sided battle?

The battle narrative comprises the bulk of the book and it also gets the job done, but with much effort to address the reasons for the British defeat. While Knight makes it clear that British pre-battle reconnaissance was a bit sloppy and based on too many false assumptions, he fails to address issues like faulty British tactical dispositions or ammunition resupply problems. Based on what happened elsewhere in the war, it is clear that the Zulus could not defeat British regulars who were defending in square or behind obstacles. The only enlightenment that Knight adds about the battle concerns the final moments of the British infantry, which he deduced from participation in an archaeological dig on the battlefield in the 1990s. Knight demonstrates that clumps of British infantry survived the overrunning of the camp and slowly tried to fight their way back to the border, but were overwhelmed enroute.

Modern military professionals could use this volume as an excellent starting point for a study of regular forces fighting less well-developed opponents, and might see parallels with contemporary operations in Afghanistan or Somalia. It is interesting to discern how over 1,300 British troops - including the battle-experienced 1st Battalion/24th Infantry - could be annihilated in the space of four hours by an opponent that was regarded as hopelessly inferior. The root cause of the defeat at Isandlwana was the same as at the Little Bighorn in 1876 or Mogadishu in 1993 (or Bunker Hill in 1775): professional soldier arrogance. While the Zulus were ultimately defeated - at much greater cost in resources and time than the British had bargained for - they did demonstrate that not all indigenous military forces merely sit around waiting to be picked off like clay pigeons by superior military technology.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Balanced Battle Summary, February 18, 2007

By 

Stephan Bullard "sgbullard" (Hartford, CT USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Isandlwana 1879: The Great Zulu Victory (Campaign) (Paperback)

This is a clearly written account of the start of the 1879 Zulu War leading up to the battle of Isandlwana. Events described include the initial invasion of Zulu empire, subsequent British reconnaissance efforts, and the battle of Isandlwana itself. The greatest strength of the book is the authors ability to provide a balanced, unbiased account of the campaign. This is particularly welcome as other accounts have tended to portray the Zulus as a faceless mass instead of a well-organized army. In this case the strategies, tactics, and intention of both sides are well explained and provide readers with a clear understanding of this interesting campaign. As always with Osprey books, numerous illustrations, 2D, and 3D maps are included. The illustrations in this book are especially engaging due to colorful British uniforms and the Zulu exotic battle gear. The most interesting one (and the cover of the hardback Praeger edition) depicts a last stand by a small knot of British infantry and members of the Natal Native Contingent.

One minor drawback to the book is the lack of detail about the aftermath of the battle; this is not necessarily the authors fault as Osprey has very tight page limitations which forces authors to make tough choices about what to emphasize. However, the battlefield lay virtually untouched for months after the fight with only occasional visits by foraging and burial parties. More in-depth accounts of these forays would have flesh out the text.

This book along with Rorke's Drift 1879, also by Ian Knight and also part of the Osprey Campaign Series, would make an excellent gift for someone interested in African or Imperial British history.