"The Anglo-Zulu War, the most famous of Britain's lte ninetweenth-century campaigns of colonial conquest, was not fought in isolation. Along with the two Anglo-Pedi wars, the Ninth Cape Frontier War and the Northern Border War, it was one in a brutal series of interconnected and overlapping wars which the British waged between 1877-1879 to crush and disarm the remaining independent black states of South Africa. [Fusing] the widely differing African and European perspectives on events, [the author] probes the fateful decisions taken by statesmen and military commandrs, analyses military operations and their destructive impact on combatants and civilians alike, and explores why so many Africans chose to fight as auxiliaries and levies alongside the Bruitish instead of against them. ..."--Jacket.
In this compact, powerful new study Thembisa Waetjen explores how gender structured the mobilization of Zulu nationalism in South Africa as antiapartheid efforts gained force during the 1980s. Undercutting assumptions of male power and nationalism as monolithic, Workers and Warriors demonstrates the ways that masculinities may be plural, conflict-ridden, and crucial not only to the formation of loyalty but also to why some nationalisms fail.
“A densely detailed account of the 1879 Zulu defeat of the British . . . portrays a complex and interesting segment of British/African history.”—Library Journal The battle of Isandlwana—a great Zulu victory—was one of the worst defeats ever to befall a British Army. At noon on 22 January 1879, a British camp, garrisoned by over 1700 troops, was attacked and overwhelmed by 20,000 Zulu warriors. The defeat of the British, armed with the most modern weaponry of the day, caused disbelief and outrage throughout Queen Victoria's England. The obvious culprit for the blunder was Lieutenant General Lord Chelmsford, the defeated commander. Appearing to respond to the outcry, he ordered a court of inquiry. But there followed a carefully conducted cover-up in which Chelmsford found a scapegoat in the dead—most notably, in Colonel Anthony Durnford. Using source material ranging from the Royal Windsor Archives to the oral history passed down to the present Zulu inhabitants of Isandlwana, this gripping history exposes the full extent of the blunders of this famous battle and the scandal that followed. It also gives full credit to the masterful tactics of the 20,000 strong Zulu force and to Ntshingwayo kaMahole, for the way in which he comprehensively out-generalled Chelmsford. This is an illuminating account of one of the most embarrassing episodes in British military history and of a spectacular Zulu victory. The authors superbly weave the excitement of the battle, the British mistakes, the brilliant Zulu tactics and the shameful cover up into an exhilarating and tragic tale. “A must for anyone interested in the Zulu War. Highly recommended.”—British Army Review
This book offers an account of this understudied conflict dating from the early stage of European colonialism in Africa, and unpacks the complex regional relationships between different communities in the first half of 19th century.
The short but savage Anglo-Zulu War of 1879 pitched well-equipped but complacent British soldiers into combat with the Zulu, one of history's finest fighting forces. The clashes between these two different armies prompted tactical innovation on both sides, as the British and their Zulu opponents sought to find the optimal combination of mobility, protection and firepower. This engrossing study traces the changing face of infantry combat in the Anglo-Zulu War. Three major engagements are detailed: the Zulu ambush at Nyezane, repulsed by the British using their established tactics; the shocking defeat and massacre of outmanoeuvred British forces in savage close-quarter fighting at iSandlwana; and the British victory at Khambula following their adoption of more condensed firing lines and prepared positions.
In Dust of the Zulu Louise Meintjes traces the political and aesthetic significance of ngoma, a competitive form of dance and music that emerged out of the legacies of colonialism and apartheid in South Africa. Contextualizing ngoma within South Africa's history of violence, migrant labor, the HIV epidemic, and the world music market, Meintjes follows a community ngoma team and its professional subgroup during the twenty years after apartheid's end. She intricately ties aesthetics to politics, embodiment to the voice, and masculine anger to eloquence and virtuosity, relating the visceral experience of ngoma performances as they embody the expanse of South African history. Meintjes also shows how ngoma helps build community, cultivate responsible manhood, and provide its participants with a means to reconcile South Africa's past with its postapartheid future. Dust of the Zulu includes over one hundred photographs of ngoma performances, the majority taken by award-winning photojournalist TJ Lemon.
Birmingham's Zulu Army occupies a unique place in the annals of terrace violence: it's a mixed race gang. Journalist Caroline Gall was granted unprecedented access to the gang and spent a year interviewing Zulu leaders and footsoldiers. She examines their rivalry with neighbours Aston Villa and how clashes with other firms such as the ICF and the Soul Crew saw them become one of the top five mobs in the country. She uncovers their role in some of the worst football-related riots of modern times and looks at Operation Red Card, the successful police operation against them.
Focusing on the front-line soldiers who fought for their tribes, their cities, their overlords and their countries-from the Ancient Greeks who repelled the invading Persians in the 5th century to the US Marines in action in Korea, Vietnam and the Persian Gulf, this visual history paints a compelling portrait of the front-line soldier through 2,500 years of history. The third in a series of illustrated military history books, following the highly successful Battle and Weapon, Warrior features vivid accounts of daily life, training, and tactics of the ordinary fighting man. There are also features on the kit they carried and the weapons they used, as well as the part they played in significant battles. In addition to celebrated soldiers of Europe and North America there are sections on equally formidable warriors from other parts of the world, such as the Mongol horsemen of the 13th century, the Aztecs, the Samurai of 17th-century Japan, New Zealand's Maori and the Zulus of South Africa. Warrior is organized into six sections, covering six distinct periods in the history of warfare: Phalanxes and Legions deals with the warfare of Ancient Greece and Rome; Conquest and Chivalry explores the age of warriors who fought for either honor or plunder; Pikemen and Musketeers charts the advent of gunpowder in the 16th century; Empires and Frontiers deals with expansion of empires and the clashes of colonization; Trenches and Dogfights looks at the mechanized warfare of World War I and II, when the development of tanks, aeroplanes and submarines as weapons of war marks the beginning of a completely new era; and Guerillas and Commandos shows that despite the proliferation of death-dealing machines the ordinary soldier still retains a role, sometimes highly specialized, such as helicopter-borne infantry, or guerrilla forces like the Vietcong, who managed to resist the most powerful army on earth.
The historian and author of The Great Trek recounts the devastating period of violence among indigenous peoples in early 19th century southern Africa. From 1815 to 1840, southeastern Africa experienced a devastating period of warfare between the Zulus, the Matabele, and other indigenous peoples. Though the causes of the unrest—which the Zulu called the Mfecane—are still debated by historians, we know that hundreds of thousands of lives lost. Some estimate the total number of deaths to be near two million. At the center of the turmoil was the Zulu Kingdom and its King Shaka, whose wars of expansion sparked mass migrations among smaller tribes. One of Shaka’s lieutenants, Mzilikazi Khumalo, escaped execution and began a trail of destruction from Zululand north to the Highveld. Refugees from Mzilikazi’s warpath then formed their own alliance—including with the Dutch-speaking Voortrekkers, arriving on their own “Great Trek” to escape British control. Finally defeated in 1836 by the Voortrekkers in a nine-day battle, Mzilikazi and his followers crossed the Limpopo River and founded the kingdom of the Matabele in what is now Zimbabwe.
