I've read Adrian Greaves "Rorke's Drift", and've heard of "Washing of the spear". Are there any other good books on this, paticulartly the battle of Isandhlwana? Any feedback would be appreciated.
"Never was so much owed by so many to so few."-Winston Churchill.
washing of the spears is agood detailed history of the rise of the zulu nation but is now a little outdated and its account of islandwana and rorkes drift have been a littkle dsicredited due to the works of later writers, check out anything by ian Knight and sepcificaly about rorkes drift, Like wolves on the fold by Col Mike Snook
share"Like Wolves on the Fold" is excellent. Even has travel tips in the back if one wants to tour the 1879 sites.
Snook also has one on Isandelwana but I can't recall the name. Google "Snook" and "Isandelwana" or look it up on Amazon...
The Troika of Irrelevancy: bringing off-topic enlightenment to the masses since 2006
Okay, I'll take a look for these books. Thanks Guys!
"Never was so much owed by so many to so few."-Winston Churchill.
Lt. Col. Snook's book on Isandlwana is called "How Can Man Die Better", and it's very good!
share
Okay, I've looked it up on Amazon, and it looks promising. I'll probably order it in the next day or so.
"Never was so much owed by so many to so few."-Winston Churchill.
I checked through my private library. I can recommend the following titles
1) "Washing of the Spears" by Donald R. Morris (a little dated and some errors but still gives a fine historical perspective to the Zulu nation)
2) "The Zulu War" by Michael Barthrop
3) "Like Lions they Fought" by Robert R. Edgerton
4) "Nothing Remains but to Fight" by Ian Knight
5) "Warrior Cheifs of Southern Africa" by Ian Knight
6) "The Zulu War" by David Clammer
7) "The Anatomy of the Zulu Army" by Ian Knight
8) "Zulu Victory" by Ron Lock & Peter Quantrex
9) "Great Zulua Battles 1836-1906" by Ian Knight
10) "Rorke's Drift" by Ian Knight
11) "Victorian Colonial Warfare-Africa" by David Featherstone
12-14) Osprey Military Books 12) Elite Series, 13) Man-at-arms series, 14) Warrior series
12) "The Zulua" by Ian Knight & Angus McBride
13) "The Zulu War" by Angus McBride
14) "Zulua 1816-1906" by Ian Knight & Angus McBride
Hope these prove useful.
Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons for thou art crunchy and taste good with catsup
It does help, thank you.
"Never was so much owed by so many to so few."-Winston Churchill.
For a bit of light reading, (fiction), you might enjoy 'The Tune That They Play' by Willian Clive, a novel about Isandlwana. Very enjoyable read.
shareTwo other works of fiction that might be of interest are
1) "When the Lion Feeds" by Wilbur Smith
2) "Nada the Lily" by H. Rider Haggard
Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons for thou art crunchy and taste good with catsup
Pete:
Wilbur Smith goes double for me; As a writer of Historical Fiction (relating to Southern Africa & elsewhere) you cannot beat Wilbur Smith--he is one of the most VIVID writers I have ever had the pleasure of reading;
nm
I know Wilbur Smith has written a number of novels set in Southern Africa at various historical times. The only one I have read is "When the Lion Feeds." It will bring alive the causes and results of the 1879 Zulu War to just about any reader. The Witzwatersrand sections are interesting as well.
"Nada the Lily" does a nice job of combining Zulu history during the time of Chaka and folklore. A must for any students of Zulu history and culture. The novel apparently in its entirety can be read at the following link.
http://haggard.thefreelibrary.com/Nada-The-Lily
Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons for thou art crunchy and taste good with catsup
Pete:
I have read a couple; the one about the South African guy who becomes a Mirage Pilot in Israel(forgot the title) and another one about a generational vendetta in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe's Matabeleland--and that one's sequel too; yet another about some Manly Man who works as a safari guide in Zimbabwe who gets drawn into a Mozambiquan poaching ring;
The stuff that stood out was the Africans' attitudes toward other Africans: Specifically the CONTEMPT the Zulus & the Matable held for each other & other tribal groups---for ex: the Matabele would declare the Mashonas as being 'amaholi'(sp) good only for use as slaves or simply to be killed if so desired---Ironically these 'slaves' were the iron forgers who actually MADE the assegeis fighting spears for the Matabele....
nm
Also, "the Zulu and the Lion" by James Wilson - Fiction that covers the whole Zulu War
sharenickm2 - I would slightly question the study of 'Zulus' from the starting point of 'our' perspective, i.e the British war.
In particular, the infighting you mention is something said of many historical enemies, as if it is a unique fault, when of course 'tribal' wars of varying degrees have occurred within all nations - it is in our nature to think 'tribally', and we form warring groups for the most arbitrary reasons.
Although some English war enthusiasts also like to emphasize e.g. Scottish clan infighting, all parts of Britain have seen such behaviour, if you take a wide enough historical perspective.
Just to add a few more from the fine list noted by pete....
Brave Men's Blood-by Ian Knight
The Curling Letters of the Zulu War- "There was Awful Slaughter" (he was a survivor at Isandlwana)
In Zululand With the British Throughout the War of 1879 by C.L. Norris-Newman
(he was an English war correspondent traveling with the British)
Osprey Publishing - www.ospreypublishing.com are usually very good at stuff like this. They have a bunch of short, colourful (and well illustrated) books abou the Anglo-Zulu War. I've read Rorke's Drift 1879 - "Pinned like rats in a hole" by Ian Knight. It's a short well illustrated introduction to this battle, worth checking out.
shareWell suggested that man! I read it in 1978. Brilliant book. Eventually tracked down all the 'Dando' novels. Much underated. Tks for reminding me of it.
shareWell suggested that man! I read it in 1978. Brilliant book. Eventually tracked down all the 'Dando' novels. Much underated. Tks for reminding me of it.
shareWell suggested that man! I read it in 1978. Brilliant book. Eventually tracked down all the 'Dando' novels. Much underated. Tks for reminding me of it.
shareThe Red Soldier by Frank Emery is also very good. It's mostly letters written by soldiers who took part in the Zulu War (and fought at Rorkes Drift). Their letters home were printed in local news papers which is how they survived.
It's a really informative book because it shows what the soldiers themselves thought about the whole situation but also gives valuable information about Victorian society as a whole.
What I found most interesting was that class barriers were not so rigid as we think they were nowadays (normal rank and file were talking about looking for and speaking to officers/gentlemen they knew from civvy street (like the local squire for example)) and the excellent literacy as evidenced in those letters is quite interesting.
the excellent literacy as evidenced in those letters is quite interesting.
So, how would you account for the excellent literacy in the letters?
My great uncle was an ordinary foot soldier (forgotten his regiment)and was told he served at Mafeking or Ladysmith, only just over 20 years after the Zulu War, yet was also told he was indeed quite a literate man, as was his brother, my grandfather. His father was only a cowherd in Scotland, my late mother's grandfather, who had even walked some of his cattle many miles to a market in the city. I grew up surrounded by books, and into her early 80's, my mother could recite Longfellow, or a few other poems by famous names, at the drop of a hat. Admittedly, my mother's education was possibly better than her uncle's, yet the point must be there are exceptions to almost every statistic. I agree your general point that literacy rates were low, hence my question, why the previous poster's point of "excellent literacy"?
I appreciated your signature by Hume ; the Hume Tower in Edinburgh was named after him, my hometown.
Well for one thing there's a big selection bias, only those who could write would send letters, only the best would be chosen for publication and we couldn't rule out some editing by the newspapers.
I think you're surrounded by David Hume statues and monuments in Edinburgh and rightly so, he's one of our greatest philosophers.
"A wise man proportions his belief to the evidence"
David Hume
Sorry, I should have mentioned that in my post.There was no selection bias; the reason these letters were published is because the people who recieved them forwarded them to editors of local newspapers for publishing. These editors then published it with the minimum amount of editing (any editing of the letters was explained by the editor in notes above the published letters).
shareExcellent literacy because of the way the soldiers expressed themselves and also how often writing is referenced in the letters themselves. Apparantly the most preferred way to pass time for the soldiers was to write letters home.
This caused a shortage of paper and ink and the soldiers had to resort to mixing gunpowder and water for ink and to use the front of their knapsacks as blotting paper. Getting postage stamps after Rorkes Drift was also out of the question (for obvious reasons :))so the letters were sent without postage stamps.
The author of the book also makes a comparison of these letters and letters written by soldiers of the First World War and he makes the observation that the richness of expression found in the Anglo-Zulu War was lost by the time of the WWI and that the soldiers of the latter war seem almost less literate than their predecessors.
I hope someone else would read the book because it does make for interesting discussion material.
Every time I dive a bit deeper into history I become more and more surpised at what we 'know'.
The literacy rate at the time could not have been very poor because these letter were written by the soldiers to their family members and friends. The tone of the letters show very clearly that the author knew that the person addressed in the letter was perfectly capable of reading the letter. These family members were often members of the lower class or lower middle class which disproves the common assumption that literacy rates were very poor in that period. Also, it is made clear in several of the letters that men and women were equally capable of reading.
Another interesting fact is that several of the soldiers letters published in the newspapers by their families had to be translated from the Welsh. A feat almost impossible to achieve in the Wales of today if reports on Wlesh fluency/literacy can be believed.
Please understand that I'm not saying that there were no illiterates in this period but that the problem is commonly exagerated.
The literacy rate at the time could not have been very poor because these letter were written by the soldiers to their family members and friends.
Please understand that I'm not saying that there were no illiterates in this period but that the problem is commonly exagerated.
Sorry, I should have mentioned that in my post.There was no selection bias
Consider the differences between reading, writing and speaking in terms of literacy. Perhaps some had terrible handwriting (I know people like that now)and maybe dictacted to another soldier or an officer who was kind enough to write for them. Some people probably find handwriting or script as difficult as if you or I were to attempt to write Gothic with a calligraphy pen.
shareFor a fictional take on the battle, there is one George MacDonald Fraser's Flashman novels. For somebody who survive's the Charge of The Light Brigade, Custer's Last Stand and other miilitary disasters, Flashy has his share of trouble surviving Rorke's drift. He does what any self respecting coward would do, he runs for his life...if memory serves me right.
I forget the name of the book, but it is one of three short novels. Fraser died before he could write the Gettysburgh novel. He also wrote the Bond film Octopussy and 70's "Musketeer" films as well as Royal Flash where our hero gets mixed up with Lola Montes and Bismarck.
The book you're thinking of, pj, is Flashman and the Tiger. Flashman, on the run from Isandhlwana, runs into an old enemy, Tiger Jack Moran, and ends up in what he things is safety but turns out to be Rorke's Drift! It's some time since I read the story, but I think he spends most of his time at the Drift hiding.
shareBetter memory than me. One book by Fraser I should've read was about Hollywood views history. I miss Flash.
shareBlood on the Painted Mountain: Zulu Victory and Defeat, Hlobane and Kambula, 1879
by Ron Lock comes highly recommended.
Marlon, Claudia and Dimby the cats 1989-2005, 2007 and 2010.
Two volume set by Mike Snook does both battles
How Can Man Die Better is on Isandlwana
Like Wolves on the Fold is on Rorkes Drift
I'll add to this five year old post.
One of my favorite books ever is The Covenant by James Michener. It's not really a chronicle of this conflict per say but a history of South Africa. Excellent read.
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