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The Boer War (Hardcover)

by Thomas Pakenham (Author)
4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 688 pages
  • Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson; New edition edition (27 Jan 1997)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0297819143
  • ISBN-13: 978-1868422029
  • Product Dimensions: 25.5 x 18 x 4.5 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 434,913 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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    #22 in  Books > History > Britain & Ireland > Boer Wars

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Product Description

Product Description

The war declared by the Boers on 11 October 1899 gave the British, as Kipling said, no end of a lesson'. The public expected it to be over by Christmas, but it proved to be the longest (two and three-quarter years), the costliest (over 200 million), the bloodiest (at least 22,000 British, 25,000 Boer and 12,000 African lives) and the most humiliating war that Britain fought between 1815 and 1914. Thomas Pakenham's was the first full-scale documentary history of the war to be attempted since 1910. His narrative is based on first-hand and largely unpublished sources, from British and South African archives to the private papers, letters and diaries of the protagonists and soldiers of both sides, and the tape-recorded memories of over fifty survivors. Out of this historical goldmine, Thomas Pakenham has constructed a narrative as vivid and fast-moving as a novel, and throws new light on the blunders and personal feuds of the British generals. He writes movingly of the plight of the 100,000 black Africans who served both armies, and explains the final political victory of the Boers - how they lost the war but won the peace - with far-reaching consequences for Europe and South Africa.


About the Author

Thomas Pakenham, the eldest son of the Earl and Countess of Longford, was born in 1933 and educated at Ampleforth and Oxford. He lives in Ireland and London.
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Customer Reviews

8 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.8 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
40 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the greatest history books ever written?, 24 May 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: The Boer War (Paperback)
At first the 580 or so pages on a rather forgotten subject could dissuade most people from reading it. This was almost the effect it had on me when I first saw the book many years ago but after the first chapter I realised that I was reading a unique and very special book. Pakenham manages to cover every aspect of the conflict without ever getting bogged down in tedium and maintains a lively pace throughout. He describes clearly the political and economic causes of the war from every perspective and the battle scenes are so minutely recounted that the reader feels he is actually present. But Pakenham, more importantly, deals with the unpalatable truths: that the British Government allowed itself to be dragged into a conflict by war mongers like Milne and Rhodes who were motivated by greed and financial gain, the concentration camps which were designed to round up the Afrikaaner families that supposedly supported the Boers were so badly organised that they caused thousands of deaths more through incompetence than by design, how the blacks were actively mistreated by the boers and totally ignored by the British during the conflict and after it in any future political settlement, how the British Army lived up to the old adage of "lions lead by donkeys". Pakenham is also willing to explode a few old myths: that Redvers Buller was solely to blame for the inital failures of the British Army during the beginning of the conflict, that Lord Roberts was the saviour afterwards and that the Boers were expert marksmen. In the end the book succeeds because the author tells the story from a deeply moving human perspective; it reads like a wonderful novel without ever losing sight that it is an historical document. My only criticism is that it could do with more photographs and illustrations (this was, after all, one of the first ever conflicts to be extensively filmed and photographed).
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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful account of a neglected conflict, 28 Jun 2000
By A Customer
This review is from: The Boer War (Paperback)
Thomas Pakenham succeeds in bringing to life the causes and course of the Boer War through a prodigious mixture of spotless, in-depth research, and a writing style that compels the reader to turn the page and discover the latest twist in a conflict that shook the British Army to its foundations. The Boer War has, in Britain, been overshadowed by the two World Wars which followed, but this book will prove of particular interest to students of the Great War, since many of the leading soldiers of that war took part, with varying degrees of success, in the Boer War -soldiers such as French, Haig, Rawlinson and Hamilton. Their experiences in the Boer War are illuminating in the light of their later actions in France and beyond a generation later. A must-read for any student of the late Victorian British army, but also a wonderfully interesting book that appeals to the discerning reader.
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Best book I've read on the Boer War, 19 Jun 2005
By N. M. Simner "markski" (Walsall) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Boer War (Paperback)
I am a collector of British military medals with a particular interest in the Boer War and the First World War. As a result I have read many books on about these wars and I can honestly say that this book is the best one I have ever read concerning the Boer War of 1899 to 1902.

The author takes an in depth look at the causes of the war in both a detailed and refreshingly modern analytic way not found in previous works. He then moves on and examines the various phases of the war from the large set piece battles to the guerrila war that followed as well as the aftermath.

However, what is really pleasing about this book is the way it is written being more akin to a novel than a history textbook. The result is a highly readble text with very little dry bits that often tire the reader when he or she embarks on reading a book as large as this one.

If you want one good general history of the Boer War then this is the one to buy. It will suit those who wish to learn more about the politics of the war as well as those who have a keen interest in the military tatics used.

In short this really is a first class book which shlould be read by anyone with an interest in this conflict.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A Modern Classic
The first thing that should strike the reader is that the work is over 25 years old yet still has a freshness about its approach to the conflict. Read more
Published 22 months ago by JayKay

4.0 out of 5 stars History alive.
This is the way history should be written. Facts are offered in such an interesting way. Rutland's Guns by Roger Carpenter is a novel about the Boer War based on accurate facts... Read more
Published on 29 May 2007 by Jack Cade

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic!
This was the first book I had ever read on the Boer War and what an introduction! Pakenham not only wields a gripping narrative account of the battles, political intrigue and the... Read more
Published on 5 Jul 2006 by Mr. A. J. G. Bambury

4.0 out of 5 stars Good book
The conflict between my ancestors and the British Empire comes to life through Pakenham’s masterful and researched account. Read more
Published on 16 Dec 2002

5.0 out of 5 stars unputdownable
Packenhams' account of the Boer war is widely regarded as the definitve version. For a work of military history this is a truly exceptional book as it grips the reader like a... Read more
Published on 14 April 1999

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