Description: This book is an account of the major battles on the Natal Front of the Anglo-Boer War in 1899-1900, including Colenso, Spioenkop and Vaalkrans. It also offers a partial biography of General Louis Botha, tracing his meteoric rise from ordinary burgher to Commandant General and details his accomplishments and military tactician.
Brief description: Johan Barnard was a historian specializing in the Anglo-Boer War, Military History, and the British Empire. He received M.A. degrees from the Universities of Stellenbosch and from King's College, London, and his D.Litt. et Phil from the University of South Africa, where he was a member of the History Department from 1962 to his retirement in 1987. Earlier in his career he was Chief Narrator (Land Forces) in the War Histories Section of the Prime Minister's Office and Cultural Attaché at South Africa House, London. He was an Honorary Life Member of the South African Military History Society. In addition to his work on Botha, he was the author of Die Vyf Swemmers [The Five Swimmers] (1988), an account of the escape of five Boer prisoners of war from a British ship in Colombo harbour in 1900 and their long journey back to their commandos.