Zulus

There have been several new additions to the literature of the Anglo-Zulu War in the last quarter. The War Correspondents: The Anglo-Zulu War, by John Laband and Ian Knight (published by Sutton Publishing, Phoenix Mill, Thrupp, Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL5 2BU, ISBN 0-7509-0882-3, price 18.99) is the latest in that publisher's series, which looks at different nineteenth-century campaigns through the eyes of war reporters. In this case, much of the narrative comes, not from the famous international reporters of the day, like Melton Prior or Archibald Forbes (though they are represented), but from correspondents with local South African newspapers. Many of these were not professionals, and some, indeed, were volunteers serving with the troops, and this gives their accounts a fresh and often quite distinctive slant. Also covered are the photographers who followed in the wake of the armies, taking those enduring images of camp life and the aftermath of war; indeed, this book is illustrated with a large number of pictures which have not been seen before, some of which - like a group photo of members of the Natal Native Horse - are quite stunning.

As a matter of interest, John Laband's superb history of the old Zulu kingdom, published in South Africa under the title Rope of Sand, is likely to be published in the UK by Arms and Armour Press, possibly under a different title.

Meanwhile, Hampshire County Council Museums Service (Chilcomb House, Chilcomb Lane, Winchester, Hants.) have published The Death of the Prince Imperial In Zululand 1879 (ISBN 1 8 59751121, price 2.95 + 1 p+p) an A4 soft-cover booklet which provides a brief history of the Prince's career and demise. The connection with Hampshire, of course, is that the Prince's mother, the Empress Eugenie, lived out her life at Farnborough, and the Prince's body was brought back and interred there. The Hampshire museums have a number of photos and relics connected with the Prince, and these are reproduced in this useful little volume.

Also, Osprey have added two more Zulu titles. Rorke's Drift, in their campaign series, looks at that most popular of battles, in a way which benefits greatly from the new artwork and birds-eye-views. Zulu 1818-1906 in the Warrior series looks at the way of life of the Zulu warrior, with lots of previously unpublished black-and-white images, and some excellent artwork by Angus McBride, which includes details of how Zulu costume was made, shield colours, and so on. The text in both cases is by Ian Knight.

The Anglo-Boer Wars

As the centenary of the Anglo-Boer War approaches, there are likely to be a number of new publications re-assessing a war which, rightly, is held to be a turning point in both the history of South Africa and that of the British Army. Osprey have been leading the way, and have produced a number of titles covering aspects of the conflict which have often remained inaccessible to the general reader in the past.

Ian Castle's Majuba: Hill of Destiny in the Campaigns series (ISBN 1-85532-503-9, price 10.99) is not really about the Great Boer War at all, of course, but about the earlier 1881 Transvaal revolt. This is a fascinating little campaign which has never received its due; there is currently only one book in print on the subject, Joseph Lehman's The First Boer War, which remains worth reading, but needs updating. The reasons for this neglect are perhaps obvious enough; the 1881 Transvaal War was the only major campaign of the Victorian period in which the British army lost every battle, and British politicians lost the peace.

To cap it all, General Colley, who was both GOC and Governor of British southern Africa, managed to get his head blown off in the process - a quite spectacular fall from grace. Yet the war presents a fascinating story, waged as it was by the remnants of the army which had defeated the Zulus, and opposed by ill-disciplined but effective Boer citizen-soldiers. It was the last time British infantry Colours were carried in action; the 58th advanced up the slope against Boer positions at Laing's Nek with their Colours uncased, and the Colour party were shot to pieces, prompting Wolseley himself to comment that any officer who sent his men to attack modern firearms with their Colours flying should be tried for murder. Although the climactic defeat at Majuba forms the highlight of this book, the author does consider each of the battles of this concise and bloody little war. Both Laing's Nek and Majuba are featured in the bird's-eye-views which characterise this series.

It's particularly nice to see that the Campaigns series is stepping out from the shadow of other Osprey titles in respect of its artwork, which is now beginning to take on a distinctive style. Rather than recycling the exploded uniform details of the Warrior series, for example, or the 'three figures on a page' of Men-At-Arms, the Campaigns series increasingly features new artwork, and concentrates on battle-scenes rather than uniform detail. This title includes a number of new images by Dawn Waring, and very colourful they are two - the Laing's Nek and Ingogo scenes are particularly recommended. As, indeed, is this title as a whole.

Our Little Army in the Field; The Canadians in South Africa 1899-1902, by Brian Reid, Vanwell Publishing Ltd, St Catherine's Ontario, 1996, pp206.

Available in the UK from bookshops or by post from Images, The Wells House, Holywelll Road, Malvern Wells, Worcester WR14 4LH, about 18.00.

Although a slim volume, the facts, analysis and readable style give the book quality beyond its quantity. Brian Reid has done a lot of research into the activities of the Canadian units in the field using military archives in Canada.

He has also read widely on the war and is able to put the Canadian experience in context. The first four chapters deal with the Canada's political reaction to the outbreak of war, the question of sending troops to fight and the mobilisations of the two main contingents. The summary on the causes of the war is neat and well put. Reid covers all aspects from the key political and military personalities, the raising of troops, their training or lack of it, transport arrangements, and of course the battles and actions these men were engaged in. A retired gunner officer of the Canadian Army, Reid describes the battles and actions with a military appreciation which comes over well. Canada's 2896 troops were dispersed throughout the theatre and fought with great gallantry. Three Victoria Crosses were awarded to Canadians for their part in the battle of Leliefontein (November, 1900). In this book one finds the detail and descriptions of some of the lesser aspects of the war as experienced by colonial troops not covered in larger tomes. Supported by illustrations, five clear maps, endnotes, a large bibliography and an effecient index, this is a good book.

Boer Wars (1) 1836-1898

Osprey Men-At-Arms 301 Ian Knight and Gerry Embleton ISBN 1855532 612 4, price 8.99. Boer Wars (2) 1898-1902, Osprey Men-At-Arms 303 Ian Knight and Gerry Embleton, ISBN 1855532 613 2, price 8.99

These two volumes in this well knownseries represent a much needed update to previous titles covering the military history of southern Africa. The first title covers the wars of the Afrikaner diaspora: the wars of the Great Trek against the African peoples of the interior, the wars between the Voortrekkers and the British, and the 1881 Transvaal war; the second title covers the Jameson Raid and Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902. In Ian Knight Osprey have a modern historian who writes more than the mere facts.

Readers are introduced to some of the bald and unpalatable events that punctuate the history of this region and Mr Knight's necessarily brief analysis will stimulate all readers and take them past the colour plates and battle descriptions. This is not a criticism of the artwork which is of the highest quality. The diversity of the subjects is welcome and will appeal to wargamers and modellers. For historians in neither camp the colour plates bring to life the black and white photographs that accompany the text. The lack of a list of books worthy of further reading (apart from the plug for related Osprey titles) is regrettable. If not this, then at least an indication of the sources Mr Knight consulted would have been an acceptable compromise (various pictures are credited out of courtesy but this is of no value to the reader). Nonetheless the Osprey series are aimed at a wide range of interests and levels of knowledge. Ian Knight's style neither insults the knowledgeable nor patronises the beginner.

The combination of author Michael Barthorp and publishers Windrow and Greene holds great promise of quality for anything connected with British colonial wars, and so it proves in The Frontier Ablaze; The North-West Frontier Rising 1897-98 (Windrow and Greene, 5, Gerrard St., London, W1V 7LJ, ISBN 1-85915-023-3, price 35.00).

In its day, the north-west frontier of India was the great testing-ground for the British army. A high, rugged, inhospitable terrain, bordering Afghanistan - and the road to Russia - on one side, and British India on the other, it was a perennial cock-pit of intrigue and rebellion. Its inhabitants, the Pathan peoples, were fierce, tough mountain fighters, committed to the cause of Islam, and passionately resistant to any form of outside authority. They had stubbornly refused to be conquered by a succession of invaders across the century, and from the 1840s they were a constant thorn in the side of the British Imperial administration. The Great Pathan Revolt, which occurred exactly a century ago, is often considered as part of the wider struggle for the Frontier, but this is the first book to concentrate on it exclusively.

And rightly so, for although the campaign was essentially a series of punitive expeditions, it was nonetheless a war on a much greater scale than many better-known Imperial conflicts, and it required a large number of British and Indian troops to prosecute it. Some of the incidents described clearly and graphically herein have passed into wider folklore today; young Winnie's role in the Malakand expedition, for example, or the Highlanders' assault on the Dargai Heights.

Others have been largely forgotten, like the siege of the fort at Chakdara which, as the author suggests, lasted longer and was more gruelling, in many ways, than the defence of Rorke's Drift in the Zulu War. One may ponder the reasons why this is so, but it is probably true, as the author suggests, that the fact that most of the defenders of Chakdara were Indian - rather than British - troops may have been a factor. Nonetheless, it is fascinating to see the evidence of the firm bonds which developed between some British and Indian battalions, when they were tested together in this hottest of crucibles.

The story of the 1897-98 campaign is full of incident, and the author tells it with a fine sense of period atmosphere. The illustrations are excellent - one nice touch here is using details from contemporary photos, blown up and run alongside the whole, to illustrate a particular point - and the maps are crisp and clear. The uniform plates are by Douglas Anderson, which capture the look of both protagonists without overbalancing the book and turning it into an essay on uniforms. Windrow and Greene books are not, alas, cheap, but at least you know you are buying serious research, properly presented.

Indian Mutiny

Although British colonial campaigns in Africa seem to exercise the most fascination over readers today, there is no doubt that the great preoccupation of the Victorian Empire was India. The need to secure India and protect it against external threats preoccupied both world strategists and the army on the ground alike, and the 'Indian Mutiny' of 1857 was without doubt perceived at the time as the greatest single challenge to the power of the Empire - far more than, say, the Anglo-Boer War, which actually involved a far greater military commitment

Two new books suggest that the 'Mutiny' might be about to embark on the resurgence of interest it so richly deserves. First, there is A Companion To The 'Indian Mutiny' of 1857, edited by P.J.O. Taylor (published by Oxford University Press, Walton Street, Oxford, OX2 6DP, ISBN 019563863-8, price 32.50). The first thing to note, of course, that the title of the war itself is in quotation marks; as with so many colonial campaigns, it is known by a variety of alternative names, including 'The Great Mutiny' or the 'War of Independence', depending on your point of view.

This awareness of different perspectives is particularly apt in regard to this book, which adopts an encyclopaedic approach, with over 1500 entries, submitted by both British and Indian historians. The weighting of these entries clearly reflects both the need to explore different perspectives, and a desire to shed light on less well-known aspects of the campaign; some well-known battles are summed up in less than a paragraph, while obscure personalities - on both sides - often receive a column of text, or more. This is not a criticism - indeed, it is perhaps the book's greatest delight.

It is a book that is intended to accompany narrative histories, rather than tell the story from A to B in its own right, and is therefore an ideal cross-reference to look up people and places mentioned elsewhere. Although the bulk of the book is scholarly, there is a charming emphasis on anecdote rather than analysis, which gives it a quirky feel, and helps to bring the subject alive. The entry on 'Spies', for example, contains no great reappraisal of the intelligence-gathering methods employed by either side, but the story of how one Anjoor Tewarri, a sepoy of the 1st BNI, overcame British scepticism to prove himself one of the best spies in their service.

The text is illustrated with black-and-white engravings, and there are two wadges of colour illustration. Most of these show Indian representations of battle scenes and 'rebel heroes', or photographs of sites associated with the Mutiny as they appear today. These present a refreshing change to the stilted, and often turgid, paintings which the Victorians produced, and upon which most British books on the subject are forced to draw.

By contrast, Andrew Ward's Our Bones Are Scattered: The Cawnpore Massacres of 1857 (published by John Murray, 50, Albemarle Street, London, W1X 4BD, ISBN 0-7195-5760-7, price 25.00) is a meaty (very meaty; over 500 pages of text and nearly 200 of notes and bibliography) study of one of the grimmest episodes of the Mutiny - the siege of the British garrison and subsequent massacres at Cawnpore. For the Victorians, the events at Cawnpore (Kanpur, in the modern orthography) defined their experience of the Mutiny. They encapsulated all their darkest sub-conscious fears; the apparent treachery of the Nana Sahib, whom they cast as the personification of Asian duplicity, Wheeler's forlorn defence of the cantonment, the massacre at the Sati Chowra Ghat and, most of all, the terrible horrors of the Bibighar and the well, preyed on the British image of themselves as Christian torchbearers, ripe for martyrdom in a world of incomprehensible savagery and sensual depravity.

To a people who idealised both women and motherhood, the slaughter of the captives in the Bibighar assumed a dreadful significance far beyond the reality of the crime itself - which was, as this book makes clear, pretty grim anyway. It provoked a frenzy of retribution which was unequalled in any other Victorian campaigns; far more than any other colonial war in the nineteenth century, the Mutiny became a war of race and religion, in which the events at Cawnpore were used to justify wholesale atrocity and righteous extermination. Yet it was, as the author suggests, part of the Imperial rite of passage; the Raj emerged from the fire stronger, tougher, and more resilient, fit, in its own eyes, to rule India for a further ninety years.

Our Bones Are Scattered approaches these crucial events through the people involved; it considers the personalities of the main participants, exploring the mix of nativity and arrogance on the part of Company officials which led to them into the maelstrom curiously unprepared. More than anyone else, responsibility for the events at Cawnpore must be laid at the door of the Nana Sahib, Cawnpore's most influential Indian resident, the descendent of a Mahratta prince, deposed by the Company, whom the rebels adopted as a figure-head. A a subtle politician with a deep-seated grievance against the Company, the Nana Sahib was nevertheless overtaken by events. Violence often produces its own imperative, and once the killings began they assumed a logic which defied rational reaction. This was as true of the British as it was of the rebels, and the retribution inflicted indiscriminately by the relief columns was the inevitable result.

Our Bones Are Scattered is a detailed account of the uprising in Cawnpore, of Wheeler's predicament, of the massacres themselves, and the whirlwind of retaliation they unleashed. The author's style is gripping, without being sensationalist; which is just as well, as it is still difficult to read of these horrors without a shudder. There are occasional lapses of military detail - this reviewer was amused, for example, to see that the Mutiny was provoked by the issue of greased cartridges for the Lee-Enfield rifle - but these do not detract from one of the very best books on the Mutiny to be published in recent times.

The Crimea

Of all the British military activity in the second half of the nineteenth-century, the Light Cavalry Brigade's unpleasantness at Balaclava in the Crimea remains, surely, the most picked-over. And here it is again; Mark Adkin's The Charge (Leo Cooper, 190 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, WC2H 8JL, ISBN 0-85052-469-5, price 19.95) purports to offer "the real reason why the Light Brigade was lost". To this end, he considers his subject in meticulous detail, analysing a wide range of pertinent matters, from the personalities of the main players involved - and, indeed, their personality-clashes - to the military conventions of the time which framed their actions, to their expectations of what they "hoped "to achieve, and to the sheer mechanics of what they "could" achieve.

Where did the Light Brigade think they were going, on that fateful day, where were they actually going; how far and how fast could the troops move, when and where did they come under fire, and what were the likely results? Most of all, there is a good deal of attention given to what the participants could actually see as the battle unfolded; there are (new) sketches drawn from Lord Raglan's viewpoint, showing what was happening, explaining what he thought was happening, and analysing his responses. There are sketches, too, from the position where the Light Brigade began the action, and there are all manner of detailed contour maps, and photographs of the battlefield as it appeared both at the time, and recently. Does all this succeed in its aim? It is perfectly possible to overload a book with detail, obscuring the essence of an incident or action with indigestible technical minutiae.

In fact, Mark Adkin succeeds in his aim brilliantly; his analysis is comprehensive, subtle and perceptive, and the facts and figures are never allowed to submerge a human experience so awesome that it has passed into popular folklore. Yes, this is, very probably, the real reason why the Light Brigade was lost, and the cause emerges as both more complex and more mundane than many critiques have, in the past, suggested.

Like many great disasters, the charge resulted not from one overweening folly, but from a combination of lesser human frailties. It was lost because of Lord Raglan's flawed understanding of a particular situation, because of his reluctance to be too bold with his junior officers, because of the impetuosity of the ADC who actually carried the order, and because the Brigade commanders did not understand what was required of them, but did it anyway. Somewhere in the slightest of gaps between intention and understanding, the Light Brigade slipped to oblivion - and immortality. Mark Adkin's The Charge is a thumping good read, both thoughtful and moving; if you read just one book on the Light Brigade, make it this one.

Regimental Histories

As a general rule, I'm not inclined to review in The Age of Empires new editions of recent books (which should be covered first time around!) or regimental histories (because, by definition, the content relevant to our interests is likely to be only a small proportion of the whole). I am prompted, however, to make an exception for Patrick Mileham's The Scottish Regiments, 1633-1996 (published by Spellmount Ltd, The Old Rectory, Staplehurst, Kent, TN12 OAZ, ISBN 1-873376-45-6, price 35.00), despite the fact that it falls into both categories, simply because it is such a damned handsome book.

For those of you who missed it when it first came out in 1988, it consists of a brief history of the twelve Scottish Regiments, and is illustrated with plenty of B/W photos, and several colour sections. Of course, the Scottish regiments did play quite a prominent part in British colonial campaigning - think of Majuba, Tel-el-Kebir, Dargai, and Magersfontein, to mention but a few.

For me, the great pleasure of this book is that it includes superb colour reproductions of some of the famous paintings of these actions. The detail from de Neuville's Tel-el-Kebir, on the cover, is a reminder of just what a stunning picture it is, while inside there are quality reproductions of such pictures as Norie's study of the 93rd Highlanders storming the Secundrabagh, a little-known (to me, at least) Wollen painting of the same scene, W. Skeoch Cumming's picture of the 92nd at the Asmai Heights in the 2nd Afghan War, and the same artist's depiction of the surrender of Prinsloo's commando in June 1900. A useful reference work, certainly, and a must for those touched by the magic of the Scottish regiments - but also well worth checking out for the illustrations alone.

Pony Wars

The University of Nebraska Press (1, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6HA) has recently published a paperback edition of Robert Wooster's Nelson A. Miles and the Twilight of the Frontier Army (ISBN 0-8032-9775-0, price 17.00). Miles' career did indeed coincide with the passing of the American frontier; after considerable experience in the Civil War, Miles commanded a column against the Cheyenne, Kiowa and Commanches in the Red River War of 1874/5, commanded the 5th Infantry in the aftermath of Custer's defeat in 1876, and held crucial commands during the campaigns against Chief Joseph and Geronimo. His actions during the Ghost Dance movement shaped events leading up to Wounded Knee, and in the twilight of his career he held a command during the American invasion of Puerto Rico during the Spanish-American War. Despite his achievements, however, Miles' career ended on a sour note when he opposed military reforms implemented by the Roosevelt administration. Robert Wooster's biography is an eminently readable account of the man and his times.

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