The Boer War: Direction, Experience and Image

The war in South Africa (1899-1902) marked a turning point in British military history, after the war many aspects of British policy-making and military organisation were scrutinised. The first part of this book focuses on these issues as they have been represented by scholars in the light of recent works. The bias towards work on the failures of the British is here redressed with the inclusion of studies of the roles of the Boers, Afrikaaners and Zulus by four South African historians. The social and cultural dimensions of the war as viewed from the South African perspective is also analyzed. The final section of the book concentrates on how the conflict was presented to the public back in Britain, explaining how manipulation of the media helped to centre the Boer War within British history.