Customer Reviews

Rags of Glory

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

 

 

If you have an interest in the Boer war this is as good as any I have have read and a good place to start if you haven't read Cloete before. All the main historical figures are mentioned & I have a fondness for books by Stuart Cloete whom I regard as one of the best South African writers I have read. If you like Wilbur Smith I'm sure you will like any of Cloete's books such as Turning Wheels (Boer trek) ,How Young they died (WW1). If you enjoy this then check out some of his others.

I picked up this book for free at a coffee shop a couple of years ago. The imagery and authenticity of characters was striking, and the passion of the author for his subject was unmistakable. I found myself caring about both the events and the author, and the fleeting nature of the time and place portrayed.

The book is not an "easy" read - the scholarly dedication to detail, the dated vernacular, and the (relative) obscurity of the subject kept me on my mental toes the whole way through. That had its own reward though, and I highly recommend the read.

If you can find Rags Of Glory, buy it. Although our household gives away 20+ books each month, this is one of 5-10 with which I won't part.

Well, I probably should have read the fine print. This book cost me $35.00 and what I got was a relatively cheesy little paperback. I mean when this particular edition was new it was a cheeply produced affair. For just 10 to 20 dollars more I could have gotten a hardback edition that I would proudly keep in my library or the same amount less I could have looked a little harder and gotten the same "cheezy little paperback" that I would have read and then donated to the local library. I mean, as I type this I'm looking at a picture on the screen of what I'm reviewing. Well, what I got looks nothing like that picture! Basically, though I know it is my own fault, I'm really dissapointed with this purchase.

We lived in a split-level house, and because it was warm in the upper part of the house, I had made myself a small nest of a double bed surrounded by curtains in the bottom of the four levels of our house. Every night during my l5th year, I would look forward to climbing down into my nest and becoming engrossed by the novel "Rags of Glory." I couldn't remember who wrote it but I shall never forget that it took me all summer, reading until about 2 a.m. every night to finish this novel. It was really "thick;" I'd say about 2 inches thick. I was in the thick of the civil war every night that summer. I loved it