Folio Archives 364: Commando by Deneys Reitz 1982
DiscussieFolio Society Devotees
Sluit je aan bij LibraryThing om te posten.
1wcarter
Commando, A Boer Journal of the Boer War by Deneys Reitz 1982
This is an extraordinary first-hand account of the Boer War that ran from 1899 to 1902 written by a private in the Boer army who joined the fight when he was only 17 years old. Although a humble private, he had connections, as his father was the president of the republic, but this gave him few privileges, except one time when visiting Pretoria on leave he was taken by to see some British prisoners by his father and met a war journalist named Winston Churchill.
Deneys Reitz was at the forefront of many battles, was nearly killed numerous times and lived hard off the land for three years. His account of the conflict is easily read, but the butchery and mayhem leave one sickened. Amazingly, despite the concentration camps and elimination drives, wounded Boers were left behind for the British as they had high quality field hospitals and were well looked after by the British doctors, while the Boers effectively had no field hospitals and few doctors.
This book is especially interesting as it written from the perspective of the losing side, an unusual event. Nearly all the pictures show the British as there were few (if any) Boer photographers or artists. It is one of the best first-hand historical accounts I have ever read.
After the Boer war, Reitz was exiled to Madagascar before returning to South Africa, becoming a member of parliament, a lawyer, a colonel in the British forces during World War One, and eventually the South African High Commissioner in London.
At xv + 276 pages, the book it is not a tiring read. It is introduced by Leo Cooper and there is a preface by General J.C. Smuts. Thirteen leaves of monochrome plates of contemporary photographs, drawings and prints give some visual insight to the war.
The book is bound in yellow-green cloth with a contemporary wrap-around drawing in green by R. Caron Woodville on the covers, with the spine title running from bottom to top. The page top is stained black and the endpapers show a map of South Africa printed green on cream. The textured pale brown slipcase measures 23.6x16.2cm.
Postcard/bookmark that was inserted into all FS books of this era.
An index of the other illustrated reviews in the "Folio Archives" series can be viewed here.
This is an extraordinary first-hand account of the Boer War that ran from 1899 to 1902 written by a private in the Boer army who joined the fight when he was only 17 years old. Although a humble private, he had connections, as his father was the president of the republic, but this gave him few privileges, except one time when visiting Pretoria on leave he was taken by to see some British prisoners by his father and met a war journalist named Winston Churchill.
Deneys Reitz was at the forefront of many battles, was nearly killed numerous times and lived hard off the land for three years. His account of the conflict is easily read, but the butchery and mayhem leave one sickened. Amazingly, despite the concentration camps and elimination drives, wounded Boers were left behind for the British as they had high quality field hospitals and were well looked after by the British doctors, while the Boers effectively had no field hospitals and few doctors.
This book is especially interesting as it written from the perspective of the losing side, an unusual event. Nearly all the pictures show the British as there were few (if any) Boer photographers or artists. It is one of the best first-hand historical accounts I have ever read.
After the Boer war, Reitz was exiled to Madagascar before returning to South Africa, becoming a member of parliament, a lawyer, a colonel in the British forces during World War One, and eventually the South African High Commissioner in London.
At xv + 276 pages, the book it is not a tiring read. It is introduced by Leo Cooper and there is a preface by General J.C. Smuts. Thirteen leaves of monochrome plates of contemporary photographs, drawings and prints give some visual insight to the war.
The book is bound in yellow-green cloth with a contemporary wrap-around drawing in green by R. Caron Woodville on the covers, with the spine title running from bottom to top. The page top is stained black and the endpapers show a map of South Africa printed green on cream. The textured pale brown slipcase measures 23.6x16.2cm.
Postcard/bookmark that was inserted into all FS books of this era.
An index of the other illustrated reviews in the "Folio Archives" series can be viewed here.
2NLNils
I have this book and not yet read it. What I'm always wondering about is the quick turn around for South Africa from the double Boer War to renewed British ally in the First World War. After the atrocities only a decade earlier on their home soil, they stood shoulder to shoulder in the first war typified as a global conflict.
3folio_books
>1 wcarter:
Allow me to endorse your glowing recommendation. It's a great read. I stumbled across it by accident when I was staying with a relative (also a Foliophile).
Allow me to endorse your glowing recommendation. It's a great read. I stumbled across it by accident when I was staying with a relative (also a Foliophile).
