Short description
An excellent read cum guide book about seven decisive battles which shaped South Africa, and the distinctive personalities involved. The authors visited all the sites themselves and the book contains substantial new information, including the Black perspective on the various battles and on the aftermath of Cuito Canavale.
Long description
An excellent read cum guide book about seven decisive battles which shaped South Africa, and the distinctive personalities involved. The authors visited all the sites themselves and the book contains substantial new information, including the Black perspective on the various battles and on the aftermath of Cuito Canavale.
Blood River – 1838 (Dingane; Andries Pretorius)
Isandhlwana/Rorke's Drift – 1879 (Matyana; Chard)
Majuba – 1881 (Colley; Joubert)
Colenso (“Black Week”) – 1899 (Redvers Buller; Louis Botha)
Delville Wood – 1916
The Western Desert (Sidi Rezegh, Tobruk and El Alamein) – 1942 (Klopper; Dan Pienaar; Erwin Rommel)
Cuito Cuanavale –1988 (Jannie Geldenhuys; Fidel Castro)
Seven Battles that Shaped South Africa is a first of its kind. Extensively illustrated with both archival and new photographs, the book contains maps of each battle site; road maps; information about routes and accommodation as well as a comprehensive index. It is as useful to the tourist as to the armchair traveller or historian.