Product Description
This book outlines the course of the war, through the formal first stages, to the guerilla struggle of the 'bitter enders'. Finally it focuses on individual aspects of the war that are often overlooked in a more general approach. The pictorial element and the text engage in a particularly vital interplay, to illuminate the social complexities of a unique and prophetic war. Here are Boer life on commando, the British Tommy's experience of a hostile veld, and the role of blacks in the warfare -- an aspect until recently unprobed.
Prisoners of this war were overwhelmingly Boer. Men and boys were scattered abroad to exile on remote islands, while those who collaborated with the British were scorned as 'hands uppers' and joiners. Boer women and children comprised the remaining, far more serious, casualties of the ruthless 'scorched earth' policy -- over 27,00 deaths were recorded in their prison camps.
A fascinating look at a tragic period in South African history.
