Twenty Significant Historic Battles Of Kwazulu Natal

Expert battlefields guide Nicki von der Heyde presents 71 battles covering three wars and a series of conflicts that shaped the course of South Africa’s history – from the colonial clashes that characterised the 18th and 19th centuries through to the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879 and the 2nd Anglo-Boer War of 1899–1902. Informative and lively accounts of the engagements are provided, with special attention given to the context, action, outcomes and principal combatants involved. Arranged in provincial and regional order, the Field Guide to the Battlefields of South Africa includes an array of special features that allow for an enthralling and multi-layered account of the battles: • 580 images • 80 illustrated timelines • 60 fact and feature boxes • 16 annotated battle maps • 10 regional locator maps • Detailed directions to each site • GPS co-ordinates for inaccessible locations. Comprehensive, compelling and vividly illustrated, the Field Guide to the Battlefields of South Africa is an indispensable tool for professional and amateur military historians as well as anyone interested in exploring South Africa’s fascinating history.

Interest in KwaZulu-NatalÕs battlefields Ð especially those of the Anglo-Zulu War Ð has soared since the film Zulu first screened in 1964, followed by Zulu Dawn in 1979 (the centenary of the Anglo-Zulu War). During the centenary, the famous battlefields of Isandlwana and RorkeÕs Drift were made Ôtourist-friendlyÕ by the then Natal Provincial Administration and controls were put in place by the heritage authorities to prevent relics from being plundered. Supported by effective marketing from the Battlefield Route Association and the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Tourism Authority, the battlefields have become a must-see. Indeed, RorkeÕs Drift has become a tourist icon. Specialist battlefield guides have been trained and are considered to be among the best in the world. New hotels and lodges have been built with battlefield tourism resulting in the creation of an estimated 7,500 permanent jobs in what is termed the Battlefield Region. There are, of course, many more Anglo-Zulu War sites to be seen: Discovering the Battlefields will enable visitors to find them and to read an account that is not too lengthy yet has sufficient content to bring it to life. GPS coordinates will enable those wishing to undertake a journey of exploration. The book is also a useful training manual for prospective battlefield guides. Above all, however, the author shares his knowledge gleaned from over 50 years of researching the Anglo-Zulu War. He has blended firsthand accounts passed on from participants on both sides to subsequent generations with official or newly researched information that has become available in recent years. It is written in a style that is neither technical nor dramatic, is extensively illustrated with photographs of personalities and places and includes comprehensive maps of all the battle sites.

Nearly 5,000 black Americans were lynched between 1890 and 1960, and asSherrilyn Ifill argues, the effects of this racial trauma continue to resound.While the lynchings were devastating, the little-known contemporaryconsequences, such as the marginalization of political and economicdevelopment for blacks, are equally pernicious. Ifill traces the lingering effects of two lynchings in Maryland to illustrate how ubiquitous this history is, and she issues a clarion call for the many American communities with histories of racial violence to be proactive in facing this legacy.

Battles of the Anglo-Boer War series provides an accessible guide to some of the major campaigns, battles and battlefields of this historic conflict in KwaZulu-Natal. The books are written for the general reader as well as for historians seeking fresh insights into the events leading up to, during and after the battles. The text is supported by contemporary accounts and photographs, some of which have never previously been published. Maps show in detail the routes and dispositions of the opposing forces for each battle. The Battle of Modder Spruit and Tchrengula was the last before the commencement of the Siege of Ladysmith. Due to military blunders the battle resulted in the defeat of British arms. A day later Lord Wolseley, the British Commander-in-Chief, commented, "for the last half century we had no such disaster as that of yesterday."

"A quick reference in world history for junior, senior, and, if necessary for college students."--Page v.

Between 1838 and 1888 the recently formed Zulu kingdom in southeastern Africa was directly challenged by the incursion of Boer pioneers aggressively seeking new lands on which to set up their independent republics, by English-speaking traders and hunters establishing their neighboring colony, and by imperial Britain intervening in Zulu affairs to safeguard Britain's position as the paramount power in southern Africa. As a result, the Zulu fought to resist Boer invasion in 1838 and British invasion in 1879. The internal strains these wars caused to the fabric of Zulu society resulted in civil wars in 1840, 1856, and 1882-1884, and Zululand itself was repeatedly partitioned between the Boers and British. In 1888, the old order in Zululand attempted a final, unsuccessful uprising against recently imposed British rule. This tangled web of invasions, civil wars, and rebellion is complex. The Historical Dictionary of the Zulu Wars unravels and elucidates Zulu history during the 50 years between the initial settler threat to the kingdom and its final dismemberment and absorption into the colonial order. A chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, maps, photos, and over 900 cross-referenced dictionary entries that cover the military, politics, society, economics, culture, and key players during the Zulu Wars make this an important reference for everyone from high school students to academics.

In 1876 Lakota and Cheyenne warriors annihilated Custer’s Seventh Cavalry at Little Bighorn. Three years later and half a world away, a British force was wiped out by Zulu warriors at Isandhlwana in South Africa. In both cases the total defeat of regular army troops by forces regarded as undisciplined barbarian tribesmen stunned an imperial nation. Although the similarities between the two frontier encounters have long been noted, James O. Gump’s book The Dust Rose Like Smoke is the first to scrutinize them in a comparative context. “This study issues a challenge to American exceptionalism,” he writes. Viewing both episodes as part of a global pattern of intensified conflict in the latter 1800s resulting from Western domination over a vast portion of the globe, Gump’s comparative study persuasively traces the origins and aftermath of both episodes. He examines the complicated ways in which Lakota and Zulu leadership sought to protect indigenous interests while Western leadership calculated their subjugation to imperial authority. The second edition includes a new preface from the author, revised and expanded chapters, and an interview with Leonard Little Finger (great-great-grandson of Ghost Dance leader Big Foot), whose story connects Wounded Knee and Nelson Mandela.