History of the War in South Africa 1899-1902 v. 1

Great Britain. War OfficeProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.5
Word count
1.2M words
Chapters
123

Tags

English Originals World HistoryMilitary Historical ReappraisalGeopoliticsMilitary StrategyMilitary CommandersPower GamePatriotismWar ChronicleDocumentary NarrativeTurbulent EraSocial Observation

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.History of the War in South Africa 1899-1902 v. 1 (of 4)Author: Great Britain. War Office,Language: English, Class: DT: History: General and Eastern Hemisphere: Africa, Release Date: Feb 23, 2009

Editor's review

This is the first volume of the four-volume official history of the South African War (1899–1902), compiled under the direction of the British War Office, and a typical example of official archival history writing. Its core value lies not in fluent narrative but in preserving first-hand materials from the early stages of the war: mobilization and deployment, the course of battles, unit organization, and official correspondence are all foundational sources that cannot be bypassed in studying this war. Readers will notice its rigorous format and restrained tone, carrying a strong official perspective and giving limited attention to the Boer side and the circumstances of local civilians. It is therefore better used as a historical source than read as popular history. For military history researchers and students of colonial and British imperial history, this volume provides a reliable timeline and detailed support; general readers will need to read it alongside other studies to form a balanced understanding. As a public-domain ebook, it is easy to obtain and suitable for themed reading and source verification.

Who it's for

A good fit for

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Reading tips

  1. Read the table of contents and introductory notes first to clarify the order of campaigns and the unit numbering system before entering the main text.
  2. Keep a map of southern Africa and a chronology at hand, marking march routes and battle sites as you read.
  3. Read alongside later research works, using the official account to verify details while noting its positional bias.
  4. Take notes chapter by chapter according to campaign, recording troop strength, dates, and key decisions for later verification.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37
  38. 38
  39. 39
  40. 40
  41. 41
  42. 42
  43. 43
  44. 44
  45. 45
  46. 46
  47. 47
  48. 48
  49. 49
  50. 50
  51. 51
  52. 52
  53. 53
  54. 54
  55. 55
  56. 56
  57. 57
  58. 58
  59. 59
  60. 60
  61. 61
  62. 62
  63. 63
  64. 64
  65. 65
  66. 66
  67. 67
  68. 68
  69. 69
  70. 70
  71. 71
  72. 72
  73. 73
  74. 74
  75. 75
  76. 76
  77. 77
  78. 78
  79. 79
  80. 80
  81. 81
  82. 82
  83. 83
  84. 84
  85. 85
  86. 86
  87. 87
  88. 88
  89. 89
  90. 90
  91. 91
  92. 92
  93. 93
  94. 94
  95. 95
  96. 96
  97. 97
  98. 98
  99. 99
  100. 100
  101. 101
  102. 102
  103. 103
  104. 104
  105. 105
  106. 106
  107. 107
  108. 108
  109. 109
  110. 110
  111. 111
  112. 112
  113. 113
  114. 114
  115. 115
  116. 116
  117. 117
  118. 118
  119. 119
  120. 120
  121. 121
  122. 122
  123. 123

FAQ

Is this a complete war history or one volume of it? This is the first volume of a four-volume official war history, covering the early phase of the war, not the whole work. Before reading, confirm whether the later volumes are available so as not to mistake a single volume for a complete account.
Is the official war history's perspective objective? It is based on official materials from the British War Office, with a rigorous format and clear factual threads, but its perspective clearly favors the British side and gives limited coverage to the Boers and civilians. It is advisable to read it alongside other research works for comparison.
Is the original English text difficult to read? The text is in English archival style, with long sentences and dense military terminology and unit numbers, requiring a certain foundation in English reading. Beginners may first learn the background of the war and the basic timeline before entering the main text.
Is it suitable as an introductory reading? Not very suitable. It is more a sourcebook than an introduction, lacking narrative setup and background explanation. It is advisable to first read a general history to build a framework, then use this volume as a source supplement and for detailed verification.

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About the author

Great Britain. War Office Author · British

Great Britain. War Office was the British government department responsible for the administration of the Army, and it was merged into the Ministry of Defence in 1964. As an institutional author, its signed works are mainly officially compiled military histories and administrative documents, characterized by reliance on archives and procedural narration. The collection includes its work History of the War in South Africa 1899-1902 v. 1, the first volume of the official history of the Second Boer War, drawn from operational reports, orders and archives, with emphasis on the course of campaigns and military organization; it is an important primary source for studying that war and British military history. Public information on the institution is limited, so its historical evolution and internal operations are not elaborated here; readers may consider the conventions of its official publications to understand the documentary value and compiling orientation of such collectively signed works.