Scapegoats of the Empire: The True Story of Breaker Morant's Bushveldt Carbineers [Paperback]

George Witton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2003

High quality reprint of Witton's scathing political indictment of the British Empire, originally published in 1907. The story was made into a movie in 1980, "Breaker Morant," starring Edward Woodward, Lewis Fitz-Gerald, and Jack Thompson. 240 pp. printed on cream acid-free paper. Illustrated with half-tone photographs. First Clock & Rose trade edition in paperback, preceded by a limited edition of 1,000, individually numbered, and first trade edition in hardcover. The Clock & Rose Press edition is published and printed in the USA.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Clock & Rose Press (March 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1593860161
• ISBN-13: 978-1593860165
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #202,902 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The factual story of "Breaker" Morant by a surviving witness, August 23, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Scapegoats of the empire: The true story of Breaker Morant's Bushveldt Carbineers (Hardcover)

"Scapegoats..." surfaced following the release of the film dealing with the Breaker Morant story. Author Witton was the 3rd and youngest member of the trio of Australian soldiers who were placed on trial for their lives toward the end of the Boer War. H.H. "Breaker" Morant, along with Lt. Peter Hancock, and Lt. George Witton were formally charged by the Brisish military with the murders of a number of Boer prisoners, and a German/Boer missonary.

The phrase "Scapegoats" was attributed to the prisoners by Morant during his legal defense of the murder charges. He and his fellows never contested that they had executed the prisoners; however, they maintained until the end that they were following verbal orders which had been issued to Morant that all Boer prisoners were to be summarily executed. Unfortunately for the prisoners, the officer who relayed those orders to Morant was killed in combat, and could not testify for the accused.

The trio absolutely denied the killing of the missionary.

Morant, who apparantly was a published Australian newspaperman of some note, and Hancock were executed. Witton was sentenced to life imprisonment - a sentence whch was reduced to a couple of years, following the end of the War.

The principle theme of the book and the story is that the British govenment wanted to end the unpopular war, and wanted to bring Germany to the Brit's side by convicting the prisoners for the murder of the German missionary.

Witton tells us that the missonary was, in deed, murdered by Hancock (on Morant's orders) - while the other prisoners were formally - and legally - executed.

Witton's slender volumn includes numerous photos of the principal characters of the story. His prose is stark in the telling of injustice.

While the truth of Witton's story is much less sympathetic toward Morant than either the film or the Kit Denton play on which it was based, the book still brings home the brutality and savagery of war.

If you liked the movie - you'll love the book.

46 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Hypocrisy of the Crown  an Indictment of a Dying Empire, February 20, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Scapegoats of the Empire: The True Story of Breaker Morant's Bushveldt Carbineers (Paperback)

Like many of us, I had seen the movie "Breaker Morant" and found it disturbing. Of course, I'd always wondered if it was actually true. I'd heard of a book, "Scapegoats of the Empire" that had supposedly been banned, but I had never seen a copy of it. Only by accident did I find out that Clock & Rose had published a facsimile edition. I hestitated to actually buy it, because the price is fairly steep, but I succumbed to my long-standing curiosity and took the plunge.

A couple weeks later the book arrived, and I opened the package wondering what I'd find within. To my delight, I uncovered an extremely well-made book, nicely bound, printed on cream paper, with a handsome sepia dustjacket. Already I was feeling much better, and I hadn't even read the book...

But, oh my goodness! What a story! An eyewitness retelling of the entire incident by one of the participants, the book is like a dagger plunged into the hypocritical heart of an empire on its last legs. For those unfamiliar with the incident, it occurred during the Boer war in South Africa just after the turn of the century, when a unit of the empire's troops comprised of British and Australian soldiers, ostensibly following orders, executed a number of Boer soldiers who had been taken prisoner in the field.

The incident became a cause celebrè, with everyone in power doing their best to distance themselves, and a court-martial resulted. Seven officers were tried, 3 Australian and 4 British. The British all were let go with dishonorable discharges; the three Australians were sentenced to death. Two were executed by firing squad in Pretoria, South Africa and the third, Lt. George Witton, had his sentence commuted to life in prison. Three years later, the British House of Commons overturned Witton's conviction, and he returned to Australia a free but deeply troubled man.

"Scapegoats of the Empire" is his story, a matter-of-fact recounting of the events as he recalled them, and it is in effect a scathing indictment of the supposedly "noble" institution of British Law, and of the men who ran the Empire. The book's extraordinarily relevant right now, in 2004, as we watch our own government going through contortions of self-justifcation over our latest (mis)adventures in Iraq.

There's nothing new under the sun: a must-read!

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars need to read it and 2 others, July 20, 2006

By 

Dr R. J. Lofaro (AL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Scapegoats of the Empire: The True Story of Breaker Morant's Bushveldt Carbineers (Paperback)

If you have sen the superb " Breaker Morant" movie and wanted more info on The Breaker, his companions, their actions and the court martial, there are very few books out there. This one, by G.R.Witton, one of the men court-martialed with Morant et al, would seem to be the choice to be the best and most complete. It is not, as Witton spends much of the book recounting his life before he met and served with Morant and Handcock et al...he was not present at their execution and the last part of the book recounts his 3 years in various prisons. Kit Denton has a decent book out (have read it...it suffers a tad from emotion).There is another by a Nick (cannot remember last name) that is scarce. I believe that you would have to read all three...and would be in for some surprises if all you know about Morant et al comes from the movie.