Ian Bennett discussing his new book, A Rain of Lead, with a re-enactor at the Fair. The annual Victorian Military Society Fair was held at the Victory Services Club on the last Sunday in April. Although pouring rain greeted exhibitors as they began setting up at 9.00am, the day soon brightened and a steady stream of visitors wandered in from the sunny streets of Marble Arch. Among the exhibitors were: Anglo-Boer Militaria, Bonaparte Miniatures, The Crimean War Research Society, Hersants Military Books, Military Fine Arts, Steven Hopkins Military Books, Tradition of London Ltd and, of course, Greenhill Books. Greenhill took this opportunity to promote several new books on the Victorian era, including Eyewitness in the Crimea, the remarkable series of letters by George Frederick Dallas. Col. Ian Bennett was also present to support the forthcoming A Rain of Lead, his account of the 1880 siege of a British garrison by Boer rebels. American author D. A. Kinsley’s collection of eyewitness material from the Great Indian Mutiny, They Fight Like Devils - a book not for the faint-hearted - was also premiered at the Greenhill stand. Greenhill editor Cath Stuart by a display of Eyewitness in the Crimea, which she edited, at the Fair. In the last issue of Greenhill Book News, we managed to print Ian Bennett’s description of the siege of Potchefstroom with some key words missing. Where the piece referred to ‘spies publicly executed under fire from their own unwitting comrades’, Ian Bennett had in fact been writing about British prisoners of war working under fire. The complete sentence should have read: ‘The tale of the siege appeared to have all the ingredients of the kind of patriotic military drama so beloved by the Victorians: the gallantry and fortitude of the soldiers and the womenfolk, colourful reports of Boer atrocities, spies publicly executed and British prisoners of war forced to work under fire from their own unwitting comrades.’ For the full story (with all the right words included), see Ian Bennett’s A Rain of Lead: The Siege and Surrender of the British at Potchefstroom. Back to Greenhill Military Book News No. 108 Table of Contents Back to Greenhill Military Book News List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 2001 by Greenhill Books This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com