Black People And The South African War 1899 1902

This book focuses upon the wartime experiences of black people, and to examine the war in the context of a complex and rapidly changing colonial society increasingly shaped, but not yet transformed, by mining capital.

The South African War was a costly and bitterly contested struggle. It was fought in a region populated by five million people, four million of whom were black. This is the first history of the war to focus upon the wartime experiences of black people, and to examine the war in the context of a complex and rapidly changing colonial society increasingly shaped, but not yet transformed, by mining capital. The ways in which the war influenced the lives and livelihoods of different sections of the black population are studied - from chiefs and newspaper editors to peasant farmers and artisans, to farm tenants and industrial workers. Dr Warwick shows that black people were far more than either spectators to, or passive victims of, a white man's quarrel, and presents a thorough revision of accepted views on the war. He reveals the vital roles performed by black people in both the British and Boer armies, and shows how the regular and irregular participation of blacks exercised an influence upon the course of war.

This book describes the participation of black people in the conduct of the war, and their subsequent exclusion from the fruits of peace.

This exciting new book marks a major shift in the study of the South African War. It turns attention from the war's much debated causes onto its more neglected consequences. An international team of scholars explores the myriad legacies of the war - for South Africa, for Britain, for the Empire and beyond. The extensive introduction sets the contributions in context, and the elegant afterword offers thought-provoking reflections on their cumulative significance.

The South African War rounded off the British conquest of Southern Africa. Only now, a hundred years later, are some of the more baleful legacies of the war being addressed. This new history is an up-to-date account of the military struggle in South Africa including the whole web of miscalculations and shattered illusions that surrounded it which spread far beyond the battlefields.

Victorious in its previous campaigns in Africa against native armies, Britain now confronted an altogether different foe. The Boers proved to be formidable opponents, masterfully compensating for inferior numbers with grim determination, resourcefulness and strong religious faith. Their mobility, expert use of cover, and knowledge of the terrain, in which they employed powerful long-range magazine rifles, gave them initial advantages. By contrast the British suffered from inadequate transport, insufficient mounted troops and poor intelligence. Despite marshalling the immense resources of their empire, the British were to be severely tested in a war which one general described as 'the graveyard of many a soldier's reputation'.

Based on many years of research with regard to the Anglo-Boer War, this book is essential reading for anyone who would like to know more about the most devastating conflict that has thus far been waged between white people in Southern Africa. However, with due course, this war also involved more and more black, brown and, to some extent, Asian people.