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Author: John Laband Publisher: Greenhill Books ISBN: 1784383740 Category : Fiction Languages : en Pages : 319
Book Description
For fans of Harry Turtledove, an alternate history novel in which Zulu forces triumph over the British at Rorke’s Drift in 1879 and invade Natal. January 1879. The British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom are at war. Lord Carnarvon, Secretary of State for the Colonies, who had successfully brought about federation in Canada in 1867, had believed a similar scheme would work in South Africa. But such plans are rejected by Boer leaders. Lord Chelmsford leads a British military expeditionary force to enter the Zulu Kingdom uninvited. A bloody battle ensues on 22 January 1879 at Isandlwana. The Zulus are the unexpected victors. After that brutal defeat, the British Army are at Rorke’s Drift on the Buffalo River in Natal Province, South Africa. A few hundred British and colonial troops, led by Lieutenants John Chard of the Royal Engineers and Gonville Bromhead, face the might of the Zulu army of thousands led by Prince Dabulamanzi kaMpande (CORR). Against the odds, the British are victorious, and this defeat marks the end of the Zulu nation’s dominance of the region. The Defence of Rorke’s Drift would go down in history as an iconic British Empire Battle and inspired Victorian Britain. Eleven Victoria Crosses were awarded to military personnel. But what if the Zulus had defeated the British at Rorke’s Drift and invaded Natal? . . . In the first ever alternate history of the Anglo-Zulu War, historian John Laband asks that question. With his vast knowledge of the Anglo-Zulu War, he turns history on its head and offers a tantalizing glimpse of a very different outcome, weaving a compelling, never-before told story of what could have been.
Author: John Laband Publisher: Greenhill Books ISBN: 1784383740 Category : Fiction Languages : en Pages : 319
Book Description
For fans of Harry Turtledove, an alternate history novel in which Zulu forces triumph over the British at Rorke’s Drift in 1879 and invade Natal. January 1879. The British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom are at war. Lord Carnarvon, Secretary of State for the Colonies, who had successfully brought about federation in Canada in 1867, had believed a similar scheme would work in South Africa. But such plans are rejected by Boer leaders. Lord Chelmsford leads a British military expeditionary force to enter the Zulu Kingdom uninvited. A bloody battle ensues on 22 January 1879 at Isandlwana. The Zulus are the unexpected victors. After that brutal defeat, the British Army are at Rorke’s Drift on the Buffalo River in Natal Province, South Africa. A few hundred British and colonial troops, led by Lieutenants John Chard of the Royal Engineers and Gonville Bromhead, face the might of the Zulu army of thousands led by Prince Dabulamanzi kaMpande (CORR). Against the odds, the British are victorious, and this defeat marks the end of the Zulu nation’s dominance of the region. The Defence of Rorke’s Drift would go down in history as an iconic British Empire Battle and inspired Victorian Britain. Eleven Victoria Crosses were awarded to military personnel. But what if the Zulus had defeated the British at Rorke’s Drift and invaded Natal? . . . In the first ever alternate history of the Anglo-Zulu War, historian John Laband asks that question. With his vast knowledge of the Anglo-Zulu War, he turns history on its head and offers a tantalizing glimpse of a very different outcome, weaving a compelling, never-before told story of what could have been.
Author: Adrian Greaves Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson ISBN: 1780224974 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 529
Book Description
The story of the bravest battle ever fought. On 22nd January 1879 a force of 20,000 Zulus overwhelmed and destroyed the British invading force at Isandlwana, killing and ritually disemboweling over 1200 troops. That afternoon, the same Zulu force turned their attention on a small outpost at Rorke's Drift. The battle that ensued, one of the British Army's great epics, has since entered into legend. Throughout the night 85 men held off six full-scale Zulu attacks at the cost of only 27 casualties, forcing the Zulu army to withdraw. Eleven Victoria Crosses were awarded for bravery shown on that night, the largest number for any one engagement in history. But as Adrian Greaves's new research shows there are several things about the myth of Rorke's Drift that don't add up. While it was the scene of undoubted bravery, it was also the scene of some astonishing cases of cowardice, and there is increasing evidence to suggest that the legend of Rorke's Drift was created to divert attention from the appalling British mistakes which caused the earlier defeat at Isandlwana.
Author: Katie Stossel Publisher: Pen and Sword ISBN: 1473864119 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 240
Book Description
A compelling account of the courageous standoff between 150 British troops and more than 3,000 Zulu warriors during the Anglo-Zulu War. Thanks to newly discovered letters and documents, A Handful of Heroes, Rorke’s Drift updates the history of the Defense of Rorke’s Drift, which will forever be one of the most celebrated British feats of arms. Remarkably after such prolonged historical scrutiny, the author’s research proves that there is yet more to discover about this famous incident of the Zulu War in 1879, and her superbly researched book reveals a number of myths that have distorted what happened during the gallant defense of the small Mission Station. This fascinating and highly readable account goes on to examine in detail the famous Chard Report, which has long been relied on by historians and authors. Doubts emerge as to its accuracy, and evidence is provided which suggests the report’s author was coerced by a senior officer in order to protect the latter’s reputation. Likewise the letters of August Hammar, a young Swedish visitor to the Mission, put Reverend Otto Witt’s false account into perspective. These and other revelations make A Handful of Heroes, Rorke’s Drift a fresh and important addition to the bibliography of this legendary Zulu War engagement. “Though the book reviewed here should not be your first dip into the history of the Zulu War, it is an essential one. It provides readers with a wider understanding of the events and their aftermath . . . The author does the job here with style and grace.” —War History Online
Author: Ian Knight Publisher: Pan ISBN: 9780330445931 Category : Isandlwana, Battle of, South Africa, 1879 Languages : en Pages : 0
Book Description
The battle of iSandlwana was the single most destructive incident in the 150-year history of the British colonization of South Africa. This title shows that the brutality of the battle was the result of an inevitable clash between two aggressive warrior traditions.
Author: Ian F. W. Beckett Publisher: Oxford University Press ISBN: 0198794126 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 252
Book Description
The story of Isandlwana, the battle that shocked the British empire at its zenith, and Rorke's Drift, which immediately followed it and went some way to restoring wounded British pride: how they were fought, how they have been remembered, and what they mean for us today.
Author: Mike Snook Publisher: Casemate Publishers ISBN: 1783469943 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 430
Book Description
A detailed chronicle of a significant opening battle in the Anglo-Zulu War: ”The Zulu attack on Rorke’s Drift thrillingly retold” (Richard Holmes). On January 22nd, 1879, the British Army in South Africa was swept aside by the seemingly unstoppable Zulu warriors at the Battle of Isandlwana. Nearby, at a remote outpost on the Buffalo River, a single company of the 24th Regiment and a few dozen recuperating hospital patients were passing a hot, monotonous day. By the time they received news from across the river, retreat was no longer an option. It seemed certain that the Rorke's Drift detachment would share the same fate. And yet, against incredible odds, the British managed to defend their station. In this riveting history, Colonel Snook brings the insights of a military professional to bear on this fateful encounter at the start of Anglo-Zulu War. It is an extraordinary tale—a victory largely achieved by the sheer bloody-mindedness of the British infantryman. Recounting in detail how the Zulu attack unfolded, Snook demonstrates how 150 men achieved their improbable victory. Snook then describes the remainder of the war, from the recovery of the lost Queen's Colour of the 24th Regiment to the climactic charge of the 17th Lancers at Ulundi. We return to Isandlwana to consider culpability, and learn of the often tragic fates of many of the war's participants.
Author: James Mace Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform ISBN: 9781546815297 Category : Languages : en Pages : 418
Book Description
It is January of 1879. While three columns of British soldiers and their African allies cross the uMzinyathi River to commence the invasion of the Zulu Kingdom, a handful of redcoats from B Company, 2/24th Regiment are left to guard the centre column's supply depot at Rorke's Drift. On the morning of 22 January, the main camp at Isandlwana, just ten miles to the east, comes under attack from the entire Zulu army and is utterly destroyed. Four thousand warriors from King Cetshwayo's elite Undi Corps remained in reserve and were denied any chance to take part in the fighting. Led by Prince Dabulamanzi, they disobey the king's orders and cross into British Natal, seeking their share in triumph and spoils. They soon converge on Rorke's Drift; an easy prize, with its paltry force of 150 redcoats to be readily swept aside. Upon hearing of the disaster at Isandlwana, and with retreat impossible, the tiny British garrison readies to receive the coming onslaught. Leading them is Lieutenant John Chard, a newly-arrived engineer officer with no actual combat experience. Aiding him is B Company's previously undistinguished officer commanding, Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead, along with 24-year old Colour Sergeant Frank Bourne, and a retired soldier-turned civilian volunteer named James Dalton. Unbeknownst to either the British or the Zulus, half of the centre column, under Lord Chelmsford's direct command, was not even at Isandlwana, but fifteen miles further east, at Mangeni Falls. However, with a huge Zulu force of over twenty-thousand warriors between them and the drift, their ammunition and ration stores taken or destroyed, and an impossible distance to cover, Chelmsford's battered column cannot possibly come to the depot's aid, and must look to their own survival. The defenders of Rorke's Drift stand alone.
Author: Adrian Greaves Publisher: Pen and Sword ISBN: 1844686027 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 383
Book Description
The historian and founder of the Anglo-Zulu War Historical Society presents his groundbreaking account of the Battle of Isandlwana. The story of the British Army’s defeat at Iswandlwana in 1879 has been much written about, but never with the detail and insight revealed by the research of Dr. Adrian Greaves. In reconstructing the dramatic and fateful events, Greaves draws on newly discovered letters, diaries and papers of survivors and other contemporaries. These include the contemporary writings of central figures such as Henry Harford, Lt Henry Carling of the Royal Artillery, August Hammar and young British nurse Janet Wells. These historical documents, coupled with Greaves’s own detailed knowledge of Zululand, enable him to paint the most accurate picture yet of this cataclysmic battle that so shamed the British establishment. We learn for the first time of the complex Zulu decoy, the attempt to blame Colonel Durnford for the defeat. Greaves uncovers evidence of another “Fugitives’ Trail” escape route taken by battle survivors, as well as the identity of previously unknown escorts for Lieutenants Coghill and Melville, both awarded Victoria Crosses for trying to save the Colors.
Author: CHRIS. PEERS Publisher: ISBN: 9781784385347 Category : Languages : en Pages :
Book Description
The battle of Isandlwana on 22 January 1879 was one of the most dramatic episodes in military history. In the morning, 20,000 Zulus overwhelmed the British invading force in one of the greatest disasters ever to befall a British army.Later the same day, a Zulu force of around 3,000 warriors turned their attention to a small outpost at Rorke's Drift defended by around 150 British and Imperial troops. The British victory that ensued - against remarkable odds - would go down as one of the most heroic actions of all time.In this thrilling blow-by-blow account, Chris Peers draws on first-hand testimonies from both sides to piece together the course of the battles as they unfolded. Along the way, he exposes many of the Victorian myths to reveal great acts of bravery as well as cases of cowardice and incompetence. A brief analysis of the aftermath of the battle and notes on the later careers of the key participants completes this gripping exposé of this legendary encounter.
Author: John Laband
Author: John Laband
Author: Adrian Greaves
Author: Katie Stossel
Author: Ian Knight
Author: Ian F. W. Beckett
Author: Mike Snook
Author: James Mace
Author: Adrian Greaves
Author: Ian Knight
Author: CHRIS. PEERS