Field Guide To The War In Zululand And The Defence Of Natal 1879

"The aim is to lead readers through the history of the campaign and to guide them to the actual sites of the war, while at the same time providing a sense of the human and social context in which military and civilian commentators of a previous century experienced the violence of invasion and war. In all its aspects this book is the essential guide to a full understanding of the Zululand campaign of 1879."--BOOK JACKET.

Historians Laband and Thompson present an updated edition of Field Guide to the War in Zululand, originally printed in 1979 and reprinted three subsequent times with corrections and revisions. Part I covers the Anglo-Zulu war. Part II addresses battlefields and fortifications by sector (coast, Dundee, Estcourt, Greytown, Luneburg, Newcastle, Ulundi, Vryheid, Pietermaritzburg, and Durban). Attractively formatted with quotation boxes, maps, and numerous drawings, reproductions of engravings, and photographs (mostly in bandw). Oversize: 8.50x12". Distributed by ISBS. c. Book News Inc.

Fought on the night of 22/23 January 1879 and immortalised in the film epic Zulu, Rorke's Drift represented one of the most glorious, if subsequently controversial episodes in British military history. For twelve desperate hours, outnumbered by over 25-1, barely 140 British soldiers, based at the remote mission station of Rorke's Drift, South Africa, were locked in a ferocious life or death struggle with over 4000 seasoned warriors of the hitherto victorious Zulu Army - the most powerful indigenous African army. Only hours earlier, in the shadow of the ominous Sphinx-like Isandlwana Crag, other elements of this same Zulu force had virtually annihilated a 1700-strong British colonial force - one of the greatest defeats of Queen Victoria's reign. In the wake of this massacre, the survival of the British Empire in South Africa rested with the tiny garrison of Rorke's Drift.

An in-depth look at the army of Africa’s Zulu kingdom leading up to their epic battle against the British army in 1879. Forces of the independent Zulu kingdom inflicted a crushing defeat on British imperial forces at Isandlwana in January, 1879. The Zulu Army was not, however, a professional force, unlike its British counterpart, but was the mobilized manpower of the Zulu state. Ian Knight details how the Zulu army functioned and ties its role firmly to the broader context of Zulu society and culture. The Zulu army had its roots in the early groups of young men who took part in combat between tribes, but such warfare was limited to disputes over cattle ownership, grazing rights, or avenging insults. In the early nineteenth century the Zulu nation began a period of rapid expansion, and King Shaka began to reform his forces into regular military units. Ian Knight charts the development and training of the men that formed the impi, which later operated so successfully under King Cetshwayo. Knight analyzes the Zulu’s fighting methods, weapons, and philosophy, all of which led to the disciplined force that faced the British army in 1879. “For me, this is the Zulu bible—everything you need to know about this warrior race over a 60-year period during the 19th Century. The battles fought are legendary and well covered many times over in other books, but Knight’s “anatomy” goes much deeper. The book explains why the Zulu Army was so fearsome and effective, by exposing how each warrior was virtually nurtured into the role from birth and remained loyal until death.” —David H. Smith, Military Modelling