# Boer War Books



## dangerboy (6 Mar 2006)

Hi. Was wondering if anyone could recommend some books on the Boar War. I do not have any on this war. Perferable ones that are still available.

Thanks


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## Michael Dorosh (6 Mar 2006)

Millar, Carman. Painting the Map Red: Canada and the South African War, 1899-1902 (Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press 1993.) pp. xvi, 544, illus.


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## The Rifleman (11 Jan 2007)

I have just read an excellent account of the City Imperial Volunteers in South Africa. It covers everything from deployement, the actions, escorts, wounded and killed, honours and homecoming. Its available from www.naval-military-press.com

A record of the City Imperial Volunteers’ service in the middle part of the Boer War, from the unit’s raising in 1899 to its return home in October 1900, including actions at Doorn Kop and Diamond Hil 
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Written by its Corps commander, Major-General W.H. Mackinnon, and with a short foreword by its distinguished Colonel, Field-Marshal Lord Roberts, this record of the City Imperial Volunteers concentrates on the role played by its infantry section in South Africa. The unit was raised in the wake of ‘Black Week’ - the disastrous series of defeats inflicted on the British by the Boers at Colenso, Magersfontein and Stormberg - which, as Mackinnon admits, left the nation ‘depressed .. though not in despair’. Recruited in a wave of patriotic fervour, the C.I. V. sailed for South Africa in the first weeks of the 20th Century; marched from the Orange River to the Vaal, and saw its first action at Doorn Kop, where it helped defeat the Boers in a skirmish. Marching round Pretoria, the unif formed part of General Ian Hamilton’s force in the two-day action at Diamond Hill, where it sustained its first fatalities from Boer shellfire. The C.I.V. occupied the Boer town of heibronm, but were compelled to evacuate it when it was surrounded by forces led by the famous Boer Commando General Christiaan De Wet. The final actions of the C.I.V. in the war were a fruitless pursuit of the elusive De Wet by Kitchener. Mackinnon’s Journal, originally written for private circulation, is accompanied by ten appendices, including Nominal Rolls and losses due to enteric fever. It is illustrated with 18 photographs, and three maps showing the actions at Doorn Kop, Diamond Hill and the C.I.V’s march through Natal, the Orange Free State and the Transvaal. A fine addition to the library of all students of the Boer War and Britain’s volunteer regiments .


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## 3rd Herd (18 Jan 2007)

here are a couple:

FARWELL B. THE GREAT BOER WAR

JUDD D. THE BOER WAR, British at War Series.  

LEHMANN J.  FIRST BOER WAR.1880-81. 

PAKENHAM T. THE BOER WAR. Note: two versions original published in 1979. There is also a re-released version published in 1993 which has been shortend.

TREW P. BOER WAR GENERALS.


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## 211RadOp (18 Jan 2007)

Brian Reid - Our Little Army in the Field: The Canadians in South Africa

A little biased towards the artillery, but a good read non the less.


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## 3rd Herd (18 Jan 2007)

211RadOp said:
			
		

> Brian Reid - Our Little Army in the Field: The Canadians in South Africa
> 
> A little biased towards the artillery, but a good read non the less.



A good read especially since he is a site member here and most of the books in this theme are written by Brits who sometime forget our involvement.


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## Old Sweat (20 Jan 2007)

Most books on the Boer War tend to concentrate on the bloody battles during the first four months and then the advance to Pretoria that culminated with the British army marching into the city on 5 June 1900. The remainder of the war, which ended on 31 May 1902, is glossed over, as there were few major battles in what became a guerilla campaign. 

I would recommend Goodbye Dolly Gray by Rayne Kruger. Although it is of the above genre, it is well researched and clearly written.

For a different perspective you might look for contemporary books. The two best Canadian ones were, in my opinion, From Quebec to Pretoria with The Royal Canadian Regiment by William Hart-McHarg and With the Guns in South Africa by EWB Morrison. The latter is available in a reprint. H-M was a corporal and later a sergeant in A Company, 2 RCR and fought in all the battalion's battles, while M was a lieutenant in D Battery. His first hand account of Leliefontein - he commanded the left section in that action and is a huge fan of the RCD - was written no more than two days after the event.

The best in depth study of the war is massive The Times History of the War in South Africa in six volumes plus a separate index, but it will cost you an arm and a leg. 

You might also look for Boer accounts, which are usually hardly flattering in their assessment of the British army's tactics, fieldcraft and leadership. Commando by Denys Reitz may turn up as it was reprinted a few decades ago. The books by Boer generals such as De Wet and Viljoen are excellent but pricey.

I have been studying the war on and off for 25 years and have about 80 volumes in my library.


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