Zulu : the heroism and tragedy of the Zulu War of 1879

This was the most controversial and brutal British imperial conflict of the nineteenth century. The real story of the Anglo-Zulu war was one of deception, dishonour, incompetence and dereliction of duty by Lord Chelmsford who invaded Zululand without the knowledge of the British Government. But it did not go to plan and there were many political repercussions. Using new material from archives in Britain and South Africa, Saul David blows the lid on this most sordid of imperial wars and comes to a number of startling new conclusions. "The Zulu War of 1879 was ill-conveived, incompetently executed and served no useful purpose for the British, who started it. Launched as a pre-emptive strike against King Cetshwayo to create a South African federation, the campaign suffered a catastrophic early defeat at Isandlwana that would have lost its commander his job had the heroic defence of Rorke's Drift not taken place the same day. Turning preconceived notions about the conflict on their head, Saul David provides a devastating and utterly gripping re-examination of this short war and draws some striking parallels with the modern world"--Back cover The Zulu War of 1879 was the most brutal and controversial British imperial conflict of the 19th century. Saul David is presenting a programme on the subject which will be aired in October 2003. He is using research from that to compile this book. The programme will hopefully raise awareness of this young historian's name and of the subject matter.