News from the Front: Review:

The South Africa Campaign of 1879

by J. P. Mackinnon and S. H. Shadbolt


The South Africa Campaign of 1879 by J. P. Mackinnon and S. H. Shadbolt
Published by Greenhill Books
ISBN 1-X5367-203-3
Price: 25.00 pounds

Mackinnon and Shadbolt's book was published shortly after the war, and was intended largely as a eulogy for British officers killed in the campaign. Thus, although it includes a brief chapter outlining the course of the war most of the book is taken up with brief biographies of each Imperial officer (Colonials were not included) who was either killed in action or died of disease. Each biography is illustrated with a portrait.

These biographies were compiled from information supplied by friends serving in the field or from relatives and they therefore provide a wealth of information on individual careers and of incidents in the field with which they were involved. It must be said, however, that the original intention of the hook was to serve as a memorial for the dead; any critical comments would therefore have been out of place and indeed some of the 'last moments' conjured up here have been distinctly romanticised.

Major Stuart Smith, for example, did not die spiking the guns at Isandlwana, but rather on the Fugitives' Trail; according to those who heard him, Captain Moriarty's last words were 'Fire away, boys! I'm done.' By the time they reached Mackinnon and Shadbolt, a suitably stirring 'Death or glory!' had been added. Nevertheless, no Zulu War library is complete without 'Mack and Shad'; since first editions now command up to 1000 pounds, Greenhill are to be congratulated on making it widely available once more.

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© Copyright 1996 by Partizan Press.

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