The Great-Anglo-Boer War
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Book Overview
The Great Boer War (1899 - 1902) - more properly the Great Anglo-Boer War - was one of the last romantic wars, pitting a sturdy, stubborn pioneer people fighting to establish the independence of their... This description may be from another edition of this product.
Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:0393306593
ISBN13:9780393306590
Release Date:January 1990
Publisher:W W Norton & Co Inc
Length:528 Pages
Weight:1.85 lbs.
Dimensions:9.3" x 1.8" x 5.8"
Related Subjects
Africa England Europe History Military Military Science Modern (16th-21st Centuries) South AfricaCustomer Reviews
4 ratings
Must read for all soldiers
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 16 years ago
This book was probably one of the most relevant, gripping and epic history books I have ever read. The numerous parallels between the Iraq war and the Boer War make it all the more powerful. Most Brit academics are long on tangential, spurious fact and short on prose. This is were Farwell parts with his contemporaries. It can be read by the casual historian (skip some of the long sieges) or the consummate soldier, as Byron fully illustrates the flaws and strength of each protagonist at every major turning point. He does not hold back personal judgment which adds much needed context. He imbues these real characters with life allowing this to become more Epic than history book. As an avid reader of insurgent doctrine this ranks up there with: Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife, A War Like No Other and Guerrilla Warfare (Che not Mao). While it is a hefty read I dare you to put this down after the first couple chapters. You will not be disappointed.
Informative, enjoyable, definitive
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 18 years ago
Quite easily the best book on the topic of the second Anglo-Boer war. If there were but one book you read concerning this timely subject, it is this one. The author leads the reader on a fast-paced but thorough and enjoyable tour of the people and places involved. The intermixture of battlefield strategic and tactical decisions are interspersed with human stories of the men who carried out the orders and the political forces that fueled the conflict. A must have for the panoramic big picture with detail enough to satisfy the most avid military historian. It is a work I come back to again and again.
Superb
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 19 years ago
Simply put, one of the greatest, most detailed and yet most readable histories, military or otherwise, to ever have been published. If you have even a passing interest in history, this book is for you. The parallels that can be drawn to our present day situation in the middle east are shocking, and this book was written quite a while ago.
An excellent non-academic history of the war...
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 24 years ago
This is an absorbing, well written account of a neglected (by American readers anyway) war at the turn of the last century. Rather than being a dry academic text, Farwell's writing style serves to bring the war to life 100 years after the fact. Seamlessly mixing descriptions of tactical battlefield and operational decisions with the geo-political/strategic back drop of the war, intertwining the personal narratives of the men who were carrying out orders and executing political/military decisions (which I'd say was very "Ken Burns" if Farwell's book didn't pre-date Burns' work by almost a decade). Coupled with other accounts of the war, like Goodbye Dolly Gray (another excellent book) written by Rayne Kruger, the average reader can understand some of the causal factors of South Africa's apartied system and gain an insight into the history of a long troubled region. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to any reader looking for a fast-paced non-academic history of the Boer War. You won't go wrong.
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