South African / Anglo-Boer War

F.S. Malan – ‘n Oud Joernalis Kyk Terug – A Former Jounalist Looks Back

2024-11-20T19:35:31+00:00December 9th, 2023|

Francois Stephanus Malan, editor of Ons Land, leader of the Afrikaner Bond, twice-acting prime minister of South Africa, minister of education, of mines and industry and various other portfolios in the early Union government, is largely forgotten now. Yet he has been described as the last Cape liberal, the man who fought longest in parliament to retain the Cape’s race-free franchise and to extend it to the other provinces. This volume publishes the earlier part of his memoir which first appeared in Die Huisgenoot in the 1930s. It explores the first part of his life, from a young man growing up in the Boland to his role as a leading Cape politician. His defence of Afrikaner interests after the Jameson Raid transformed him from a rookie editor to a leading spokesman for Cape Afrikaners. It traces the influence on his life of his imprisonment by the British in the war that followed, and his role in the making of Union. In Botha’s cabinet after 1910 he played a major role in establishing the South African university system and in creating industrial legislation which provided better medical care for minors and structures for conciliation, after the divisive miners’ strikes.

Sol T Plaatje – A life in letters

2022-07-19T09:16:11+00:00December 14th, 2020|

Sol Plaatje (1876–1932) was one of the best known political and literary figures of his generation – as journalist, writer and spokesman for his people. He spoke out against the oppressive policies of the South African government in the early decades of the twentieth century, and he is remembered for a number of important books – one of which is the diary he kept during the siege of Mafikeng, Native Life in South Africa (1916).

The World’s Great Question. Olive Schreiner’s South African Letters 1889-1920

2021-07-26T19:36:54+00:00July 24th, 2014|

The World’s Great Question features over 300 of Olive Schreiner’s key letters on South African people, politics and its racial order. They are often prophetic and can still send shivers down the spine. Immensely readable and insightful, her South African letters bring home Schreiner’s importance as one of the world’s most famous women and a foundational figure in South African literature and its political life at key junctures in its history;

Sir Graham Bower’s Secret History of the Jameson Raid and the South African Crisis, 1895-1902

2021-02-24T15:46:29+00:00July 24th, 2002|

Graham Bower's 'Secret History' is a personal insider's account of the great imperial scandal of the Jameson Raid. Bower adhered to a rigid Victorian code of honour. Although he was the official secretary to the British high commission in South Africa, he chose to keep silent and play the role of scapegoat rather than 'blow the whistle' to the high commissioner after Rhodes had confidentially told him of his plan to send forces into the Transvaal. He wrote several drafts of this 'Secret History' to vindicate his actions and the family name. This volume has been compiled from his unpublished manuscripts, his personal papers and official records.

The war diary of Burgher Jack Lane 16 November 1899 to 27 February 1900

2021-02-24T15:32:45+00:00July 24th, 2001|

John (Jack) Moody Lane, born an Ulsterman, sought his fortune in the South African Republic where he became a storekeeper in the hamlet of Hartbeesfontein in the Western Transvaal. Although he accepted Republican citizenship, he remained loyal to the British cause, and was reluctant to bear arms against his mother country when he was called up to join a commando at the start of the war. As a result, he was placed in charge of the ammunition in the main laager of General Piet Cronjé. Lane saw action at Magersfontein, outside Kimberley and eventually at Paardeberg where he was captured and sent to St Helena. Throughout he retained a wry sense of humour and observed the life in the Boer camps with a sharp and critical eye.

A Canadian mounted rifleman at war, 1890-1902. The reminiscences of A.E. Hilder

2021-08-27T08:08:04+00:00July 24th, 2000|

Albert Edward Hilder was determined to join the British and Allied forces in the Anglo-Boer War. After immigrating to Canada, he joined the Militia of the Royal Canadian Dragoons and volunteered for service when war was declared in October 1899, serving two tours of duty in South Africa in 1900 and 1902. Hilder's writings are rare accounts of the Canadian action in the war as seen from the perspective of the mounted infantry. No other substantial descriptions of these units have been published, despite the fact that these men made up over 50% of Canadian soldiers recruited to serve in the war.

The war memoirs of Commandant Ludwig Krause 1899-1900

2021-02-24T14:24:24+00:00July 24th, 1995|

In 1899 Ludwig Krause left his legal practice in the Transvaal to fight on behalf of the Boers. At first an ordinary burgher, later he became an officer, waging war in the Northern Transvaal. Educated partly at Cambridge, Krause's memoirs are remarkable for their clarity and descriptive power. Their value is enhanced by his outspoken and sometimes pungent opinions, not only of some of his British foes, but of some of Kruger's adherents.

Breaker Morant and the Bushveldt Carbineers

2022-08-08T09:17:26+00:00July 24th, 1987|

Drawing on a wide selection of sources, this volume seeks to investigate the controversies surrounding the execution of 'Breaker' Morant and his two Australian compatriots. It explores not only the murders associated with Morant, but looks at the context in which the Bushveldt Carbineers were recruited and operated. It remains one of the most scholarly works on the subject.

Johannesburg Pioneer Journals 1888-1909

2021-07-26T13:48:07+00:00July 24th, 1985|

Produced to commemorate Johannesburg's centenary, this volume explores the social history of the mining town in its pioneer days. The four journals included are C. Du-Val, 'All the World Around!!! with pencil, pen and camera'; T.R. Adlam, 'Sunrise and Advancing Morn: Memories of a South African Boyhood'; E. Bright, 'Letters, 1902-1909; Excerpts from the memoirs of William T. Powell.

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