THE ANGLO-BOER WAR, 1899-1902

April 2001

Compiled by Janet L. Seymour
Bibliographer, Air University Library
Maxwell AFB, AL

Contents

The appearance of hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by the U.S. Air Force of this web site or the information, products, or services contained therein. For other than authorized activities such as military exchanges and morale, welfare and recreation sites, the U.S. Air Force does not exercise any editorial control over the information you may find at these locations. Such links are provided consistent with the stated purpose of this DoD web site. 

All sites listed were last accessed on March 11, 2003.

INTERNET RESOURCES

The Anglo-Boer War Centenary.
Available at: http://www.icon.co.za/~dup42/war.htm
Offered by the League of Researchers of South African Battlefields.

The Anglo-Boer War Museum.
Available at: http://www.anglo-boer.co.za/
Site offers separate sections on Photographs, Concentration Camps, Prisoners of War, Important Figures, etc.

The Boer War: South Africa, 1899-1902.
Available at: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/8141/boerwar.html
Lengthy article offers internal links, three period poems, a map, and additional related links at the end.

Canadian Military Heritage Project: Links -- Boer (South African) War.
Available at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~canmil/links.htm
Lengthy list of links provides access to information on historical overview of the war, various battles, biographies, muster rolls, databases, and more. (Scroll down to Boer War. List of wars is arranged in chronological order).

Concentration Camps During the Boer War.
Available at: http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/ssrg/africa/boers.html#liberal
Discusses the concentration camps using links to historical British documents available online.

The Military History Journal.
Available at: http://rapidttp.co.za/milhist/journal.html
Produced by the South African Military History Society, this site offers information on 31 years (1967-present) of the journal. Many of the articles listed are available fulltext and many of these online articles concern aspects of the Anglo-Boer War.

Perspectives: The South African War Original and Contemporary Sources.
Available at: http://www.pinetreeweb.com/perspectives.htm
Site offers a lengthy article with links to numerous newspaper and book accounts of the war including Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's book The Great Boer War, Richard Davis' With Both Armies in South Africa, Baden-Powell's Lessons from the Varsity of Life, and more.

The Second Boer War: Why Did Australia Become Involved?
Available at: http://www.schools.ash.org.au/bribieis/projects/2010/history/history1.htm
Australian site offers information on Australia's participation in the Boer War.

The Siege of Elands River Post, 1900.
Available at: http://www.lighthorse.org.au/histbatt/elands.htm
Online article with several photographs.

The South African War.
Available at: http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?idxref=479783
Online article by Encyclopaedia Britannica with several links.

BOOKS

The Anatomy of an Antiwar Movement: The Pro-Boers, edited by Stephen E. Koss. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1973. 280 p.
Book call no.: 968.2 K86a

Avant, Deborah D. Political Institutions and Military Change: Lessons from Peripheral Wars. Ithaca, NY, Cornell University Press, 1994. 162 p.
The Boer War and Malaya: Why the British Army Adapted, pp 102-129.
Book call no.: 322.5 A946p

Belfield, Eversley M. The Boer War. Hamden, CT, Archon Books, 1975. 181 p.
Book call no.: 968.2 B428b

Churchill, Winston S., Sir. The Boer War: London to Ladysmith Via Pretoria; Ian Hamilton's March. New York, W. W. Norton, 1989. 405 p.
Book call no.: 92 C563bg

Clodfelter, Micheal. Warfare and Armed Conflicts. Jefferson, NC, McFarland, 1992. 2 vols.
Volume One--South African (Second Boer) War: 1899-1902, pp 357-362.
Book call no.: R 904.7 C643w

Davenport, T. R. H. South Africa: A Modern History. 4th ed. Toronto, University of Toronto Press, 1991. 662 p.
The Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902, pp 191-200.
Book call no.: 968 D247s 1991

De Wet, Christiaan Rudolf. Three Years' War. New York, Scribner's Sons, 1902. 448 p.
Book call no.: 968.2 D51t

Farwell, Byron. The Great Anglo-Boer War. New York, Harper & Row, 1976. 495 p.
Book call no.: 968.2 F247g

Ferguson, John H. American Diplomacy and the Boer War. Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania, 1939. 240 p.
Book call no.: 327.730682 F352a

Field, Laurence M. The Forgotten War: Australian Involvement in the South African Conflict of 1899-1902. Carlton, Victoria, Melbourne University Press, 1979. 236 p.
Book call no.: 968.048 F454f

Forrest, George William, Sir. The Life of Lord Roberts, K.G., V. C., . New York, F. A. Stokes Co., 1915. 1 vol.
The Boer War: Relief of Kimberly, pp 196-218.
Paardeberg, pp 219-243.
Capture of Cronje, pp 244-262.
Advance on Bloemfontein, pp 263-272.
Johannesburg and Pretoria, pp 273-301.
Close of Great Operations in Africa, pp 302-323.
Book call no.: 92 R644f

Gardner, Brian. Mafeking: A Victorian Legend. New York, Harcourt, Brace & World, 1967. 246 p.
Discusses the siege of Mafeking during the Boer War.
Book call no.: 968.2 G226m

Gibbs, Peter. Death of the Last Republic: The Story of the Anglo-Boer War. London, F. Muller, 1957. 302 p.
Book call no.: 968.2 G443d

Great Powers and Little Wars: The Limits of Power, edited by A. Hamish Ion and E. J. Errington. Westport, CT, Praeger, 1993. 246 p.
The Boer War, by Thomas Pakenham, pp 105-123.
Book call no.: 355.0215 G786

Griffith, Kenneth. Thank God We Kept the Flag Flying: The Siege and Relief of Ladysmith 1899-1900. New York, Viking Press, 1974. 398 p.
Also includes basic information on the war and information on the Battle of Elandslaagte.
Book call no.: 968.4 G853t

Hancock, W. K. Smuts: The Sanguine Years 1870-1919. Cambridge, Eng., Cambridge University Press, 1962. 619 p.
War and Peace (Anglo-Boer War), pp 67-204.
Book call no.: 92 S6661h v.1

Herbert, Edwin. The Second Anglo-Boer War. New York, Sterling Publishing, 1990. 95 p.
Book call no.: 973.92 H536s

Hobson, John. A. The War in South Africa: Its Causes and Effects. London, J. Nisbet, 1900. 324 p.
Book call no.: 968.2 H684w2

Holt, Edgar. The Boer War. London, Putnam, 1958. 317 p.
Book call no.: 968.2 H758b

Kruger, Rayne. Good-Bye Dolly Gray: The Story of the Boer War. Philadelphia, Lippincott, 1960. 507 p.
Book call no.: 968.2 K94g

Lee, Emanoel C. G. To the Bitter End: A Photographic History of the Boer War 1899-1902. London, Viking, 1985. 226 p.
Book call no.: 968.048 L477t

Longford, Elizabeth Harman Pakenham, Countess of. Jameson's Raid: The Prelude to the Boer War. London, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1982. 314 p.
Book call no.: 968.4 L853j

Macdonald, John. Great Battlefields of the World. New York, Macmillan Publlishing, 1984. 200 p.
Colenso/15 December 1899, pp 118-125.
Book call no.: R 904.7 M135g

Marix-Evans, Martin. Encyclopedia of the Boer War. Santa Barbara, CA, ABC-Clio, 2000. 414 p.
Book call no.: 968.04803 M343e

Miller, Carman. Painting the Map Red: Canada and the South African War, 1899-1902. Montreal, Canadian War Museum and McGill-Queen's University Press, 1993. 541 p.
Book call no.: 968.0484 M647p

The Milner Papers, edited by Cecil Headlam. London, Cassell, 1931. 2 vols.
Sir Alfred Milner was the British Governor of the Cape Colony and High Commissioner of South Africa during the second Boer War.
Volume 2--South Africa 1899-1905 contains numerous papers concerned with the Boer War.
Book call no.: 968 M659m

Mulanax, Richard B. The Boer War in American Politics and Diplomacy. Lanham, MD, University Press of America, 1994. 237 p.
Book call no.: 968.0482 M954b

Nutting, Anthony. Scramble for Africa: The Great Trek to the Boer War. New York, Dutton, 1970. 454 p.
War, pp 416-430.
Book call no.: 968 N986s

Pakenham, Thomas. The Boer War. New York, Random House, 1979. 718 p.
Book call no.: 968.2 P152b

Pakenham, Thomas. The Boer War. Illustrated ed. New York, Random House, 1993. 304 p.
Very different from the 718 page 1979 edition.
Book call no.: 968.2 P152b 1993

Patterson, Sheila. The Last Trek: A Study of the Boer People and the Afrikaner Nation. London, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1957. 336 p.
See index under "Anglo-Boer War" for specific references
Book call no.: 968 P318L

Pemberton, William Baring. Battles of the Boer War. London, B. T. Batsford, 1964. 216 p.
Book call no.: 968.2 P395b

Perry, James Moorhead. Arrogant Armies: Great Military Disasters and the Generals Behind Them. New York, John Wiley, 1996. 314 p.
Book call no.: 904.7 P463a

Prussia (Kingdom). Armee. Grosser Generalstab. Kriegsgeschichtliche Abteilung II. The War in South Africa, translated by Colonel W. H. H. Waters. London, John Murray, 1907. 280 p.
Prepared by the Historical Section of the Great General Staff, Berlin for armed forces training purposes. Also known as the German Official Account of the War in South Africa.
Book call no.: 968.2 P95w

Prussia (Kingdom). Armee. Grosser Generalstab. Kriegsgeschichtliche Abteilung II. The War in South Africa: The Advance to Pretoria after Paardeberg, the Upper Tugela Campaign, Etc, translated by Hubert du Cane. New York, Negro Universities Press, 1969. 374 p.
Prepared by the Historical Section of the Great General Staff, Berlin.
Book call no.: 968.2 P972w

Reader's Digest Association South Africa. Illustrated History of South Africa: The Real Story. Cape Town, South Africa, 1994. 512 p.
Causes of the South African War, pp 238-243.
South African War: The Formal War, pp 244-253.
South African War: The Informal War, pp 254-261.
Book call no.: 968 R286

Reitz, Deneys. Boer Commando: An Afrikaner Journal of the Boer War. New York, Sarpedon, 1993. 286 p.
Book call no.: 968.2 R379c 1993

Sampson, Victor and Hamilton, Ian. Anti-Commando. London, Faber & Faber Limited, 1931. 1 vol.
Based on Sir Aubrey Wools-Sampson's Boer War experiences. Includes information and maps on the Battle of Elandslaagte 1899, action at Roodewal 1902, the siege of Ladysmith, and decisions of various commanders.
Book call no.: 92 W916s

Sandys, Celia. Churchill: Wanted Dead or Alive. New York, Carroll and Graf, 2000. 233 p.
Discusses Churchill as a journalist during the South African War.
Book call no.: 92 C563ci

Sibbald, Raymond. The Boer War. Dover, NH, Alan Sutton, 1994. 244 p.
Book call no.: 968.0488 S563b

Smith, Iain R. The Origins of the South African War, 1899-1902. New York, Longman, 1996. 455 p.
Book call no.: 968.0481 S649o

Stone, Jay and Schmidl, Erwin A. The Boer War and Military Reforms. Lanham, MD, University Press of America, 1988. 345 p.
Book call no.: 355.00941 S878b

Swinton, Ernest Dunlop. The Defence of Duffer's Drift. Wayne, NJ, Avery Publishing Group, 1986. 72 p.
Book call no.: 355.04 S979d 1986

Symons, Julian. Buller's Campaign. London, Cresset Press, 1963. 312 p.
Book call no.: 92 B936s

Taylor, Alan J. P. From the Boer War to the Cold War: Essays on Twentieth-Century Europe. 1st American ed. New York, Allen Lane, 1995. 454 p.
The Jameson Raid, pp 33-35.
The Boer War, pp 36-38.
Book call no.: 940 T238fa

Trew, Peter. The Boer War Generals. New York, Sutton, 1999. 274 p.
Book call no.: 968.04808 T817b

United States. Adjutant-General's Office. Military Information Division. Reports on Military Operations in South Africa and China, July 1901. Washington, GPO, 1901. 600 p.
Offers detailed information on the Boer War from two American military attaches in South Africa at the time. Reports Nos.1-4 cover the operations of the British Army.
Report No.1 covers from Nov 1899 to Jan 1990 and includes details of the Battle of Colenso, pp 9-20.
Report No.2 covers Jan to Mar 1900 and the battles of Paardeberg, Driefontein, Lord Roberts forces, etc, pp 21-54.
Report No.3 covers Mar-Apr 1900, pp 54-64.
Report No.4 covers the advance from Bloemfontein to Pretoria, pp 65-92.
Report on the Operations of the Boer Army, pp 93-259.
Brief Summary of Military Operations in South Africa, pp 261-325.
Book call no.: 968.2 U58r

United States. War Dept. General Staff. Selected Translations Pertaining to the Boer War. Washington, GPO, 1905. 243 p.
Includes essays on various aspects such as: The Late South African War and Its Lessons, Tactical Deductions from the Boer War, German Tactical Ideas: The Influence of the South African War, etc.
Book call no.: 968.2 Un3 no.244

Wilkinson, Spenser. War and Policy. New York, Dodd, Mead, 1900. 443 p.
Part V: South African War, pp 347-436 (includes chapters on the military aspects, moral factors, surprise in war, a comparision of the Boer War to the American Civil War, etc).
Book call no.: 355 W686w

Young, Peter and Calvert, Michael. A Dictionary of Battles, 1816-1976. New York, Mayflower Books, 1977. 604 p.
This fourth volume in a set offers brief descriptions of various South African battles (Colenso, Kimberley, Ladysmith, Mafeking, etc). Each battle description includes the strength, aim, and results.
Book call no.: R 904 Y75d v.4

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DOCUMENTS

Cheek, Gary H. Battlefield Dispersion: The Hidden Dimension in the Principle of Mass. Fort Leavenworth, KS, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, February 1993. 56 p.
The South African War, 1899-1902, pp 17-28.
Doc. call no.: M-U 42022-2 C515b

Engelbrecht, Joseph A. War Termination: Why Does a State Decide to Stop Fighting?. New York, Columbia University, 1992. 373 p.
The Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902, pp 128-202.
Doc. call no.: M-U 43567-790

Holler, John H. The Boer War Lessons That Changed and Prepared the British Army for WW1. Carlisle Barracks, PA, U.S. Army War College, 1999. 43 p.
Doc. call no.: M-U 39080-537 H737b

Hyman, S. H. The Boer War: Aberration or Object Lesson?. Fort Leavenworth, KS, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, June 1968. 111 p.
Doc. call no.: M-U 42022 H996b

McClary, Rob B. Learning the Hard Way, or Not at All: British Strategic and Tactical Adaptation During the Boer War of 1899-1902. Fort Leavenworth, KS, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. Schoool of Advanced Military Studies, 1999. 56 p.
Doc. call no.: M-U 42022-2 M126L

Polasek, Kenneth W. An Analysis into the Causes of the Boer Wars: 1st Boer War--1880-1881, 2nd Boer War--1899-1903. Maxwell AFB, AL, Air Command and Staff College, 1997. 37 p.
Doc. call no.: M-U 43122 P762a

PERIODICALS

Brown, John. Boers' Worst Enemies (Australian Troops in the Boer War). Military History 10:54-60+ August 1993.

Carter-Campbell, D. N. Glasgow to the Relief of Ladysmith, 23rd October 1899-2nd March 1900. Society for Army Historical Research Journal 55:138-152 Autumn 1977.
From the diary of Major G. T. C. Carter-Campbell, Adjutant, 2nd BN. the Scottish Rifles.

Carver, Michael. The Boer War. RUSI Journal 144:78-82 December 1999.

Cavendish, Richard. The Relief of Mafeking. History Today 50:53 May 2000.

Chettle, John H. When War Called, Davis Answered. Smithsonian 31:94-102 April 2000.
Davis was the first modern war correspondent in the United States. Much of the article refers to his impressions of the South African War.

Cosgrove, Richard A. The Boer War and the Modernization of British Martial Law. Military Affairs 44:124-127 October 1980.

Crane, David M. Colenso: The First Battle of the Tugela River Campaign (1899). Military Review 56:77-91 February 1976.

Devonport, John. Bloody Finale to "Black Week" (Boer War, 1899). Military History 12:30-36 February 1996.

Dudley, Charles. The Boer View of Buller: New Evidence. Army Quarterly & Defence Journal 114:320-326 July 1984.

Evans, Nicholas R. Boer War Tactics Re-Examined. RUSI Journal 145:71 August 2000.

Farwell, Byron. Taking Sides in the Boer War. American Heritage 27, no.3:20-25+ April 1976.
While the United States officially remained neutral, many Americans fought on both sides of the Boer War.

Green, Howard. The Boer, the British, and the Bantu. Army Quarterly.
Part 1, 97:177-187 January 1969. (Outlines the arrival of the British in South Africa up to the 1st Boer rebellion).
Part 2, 98:64-74 April 1969. (Surveys the period from 1895-1905 including a description of the Boer Army and the cause of the war).

Green, Howard. Spion Kop: The Nadir of British Generalship. Army Quarterly & Defence Journal 99, no.2:242-250 1970.
Examines the battle of Spion Kop in terms of British military strategy.

Grundlingh, Albert. The Bitter Legacy of the Boer War. History Today 49:21-25 November 1999.
Examines the past and present effect of the war on Afrikaner nationalism.

Higginbotham, Robert D. Case Studies in the Law of Land Warfare. Military Review 63:58-66 January 1983.
Uses the Boer War as the case study in this article.

Hirshfield, Claire. The Legacy of Dissent: Boer War Opposition and the Shaping of British South African Policy, 1899-1909. War & Society 6:11-39 May 1988.

Holt, Peter. Costly British Victory at Paardeberg (Boer War). Military History 16:58-64 February 2000.

Howe, Arthur. The Relief of Ladysmith. Army Quarterly & Defence Journal 81, no.1:70-73 October 1960.

Howe, Arthur. The Storming of Spion Kop. Army Quarterly 67, no.1:114-122 October 1953.

Knee, Stuart E. Anglo-American Understanding and the Boer War. Australian Journal of Politics and History 30, no.2:196-208 1984.

Latimer, Jon. Talana Hill: Opening Shots of the Boer War. Military History 16:54-60 October 1999.

Macnab, Roy. Villebois-Mareuil and the Boers. History Today 23:792-800 November 1973.
Colonel the Comte de Villebois-Mareuil was a distinguished French volunteer in the Boer War.

Maphalala, Jabulani. The Zulus and the Boer War. History Today 50:46 January 2000.

Mitchell, C. R. and Nicholson, Michael. Rational Models and the Ending of Wars. Journal of Conflict Resolution 27:495-520 September 1983.
Discusses the utility approach to war termination using the ending of the Boer War as a case study.

Morris, Jan. The War That Broke the Imperial Spirit. Horizon 18:49-63 Spring 1976.
"In the end, the British victory over the Boers closely resembled defeat".

Morris, Roy, Jr. Battle of Magersfontein: 'Led into a Butcher's Shop'. Military History 16:38-44 December 1999.

Morris, Roy, Jr. Surfeit of Commanders. Military History 6:38-45 June 1990.
Discusses the Battle of Spion Kop.

Morton, R. F. Linchwe I and the Kgatla Campaign in the South African War, 1899-1902. Journal of African History 26, nos.2-3:169-191 1985.

Murphy, Jeffery A. From a Humble Start, Louis Botha Rose to Command an Unlikely Army, Victorious in Battle after Battle. Military History 12:20+ October 1995.

Nash, David. The Boer War and Its Humanitarian Critics. History Today 49:42-49 December 1999.

Nasson, Bill. The Priest, the Chapel and the Repentant Landowner: Abraham Esau Revisited. African Affairs 93:3-19 January 1994.
Abraham Esau was a prominent black artisan and a leading British collaborator during the Boer War. He was captured and executed by a Boer commando in 1901.

Nasson, Bill. The War of Abraham Esau 1899-1901: Martyrdom, Myth and Folk Memory in Calvinia, South Africa. African Affairs 87:239-265 April 1988.
Studies the impact of the war on the black communities and individuals and the ways they responded.

Ndiaye, Macadou. The Making of a Tragedy. UNESCO Courier No.2:16-19 February 1992.
Discusses the British and Dutch imperialism in South Africa at the time of the Boer War.

No.1 Balloon Section, Royal Engineers, in the Boer War. Society for Army Historical Research Journal.
Part 1, 68:253-261 Winter 1990.
Part 2, 69:33-44 Spring 1991.

Olasky, Marvin. Social Darwinism on the Editorial Page: American Newspapers and the Boer War. Journalism Quarterly 65:420-424 Summer 1988.
Examines editorials about the Boer War in seven American newspapers. The newspapers sided with the British and believed in an inevitable Boer defeat.

Pagaard, Stephen A. Disease and the British Army in South Africa, 1899-1900. Military Affairs 50:71-76 April 1986.

Pearsall, Ronald. The Background of the Boer War. Army Quarterly 89:220-225 January 1965.

Porter, Andrew. The South African War and the Historians. African Affairs 99:633-648 October 2000.
Examines historians' perception of the significance of the South African War of 1899-1902.

Ralston, Richard D. South Africa: Between History and the Handwriting on the Wall; Part II. American Visions 3:30-36 October 1988.
Discusses the Anglo-Boer War. Available at Air University Library only on Proquest CD-Rom #GPO-88-53.

Rowan-Robinson, H. Bakenlaagte. Army Quarterly 40, no.1:61-69 April 1940.

Sixsmith, E. K. G. Kitchener and the Guerrillas in the Boer War. Army Quarterly 104:203-214 January 1974.

Sixsmith, E. K. G. The South African War. Army Quarterly.
Part 1: Buller in Command. 98:89-99 April 1969.
Part 2: Roberts in Command. 98:209-217 July 1969.
Part 3: Kitchener in Command. 98:218-219 July 1969.

Stacey, C. P. Canada and the South African War. Canadian Army Journal.
Part 1, no.2:7-12 May 1950.
Part 2, no.3:42-47 Summer 1950.
Part 3, no.4:38-42 September 1950.
Part 4, no.5:7-11+ October 1950 .

Symons, Julian. Buller in South Afrrica. History Today 11:770-778 November 1961.
Describes the disastrous military campaign by British General Buller against the Boers.

Travers, T. H. E. Technology, Tactics, and Morale: Jean de Bloch, the Boer War, and British Military Theory, 1900-1914. Journal of Modern History 51:264-286 June 1979.

Welch, John C. The Surrender of General Beyers. Army Quarterly & Defence Journal 122:70-79 January 1992.

VIDEO

Breaker Morant. New York, South Australian Film Corp./Fox Lorber Home Video, 1996. 1 videocassette, 106 min.
Video call no.: 791.45658 B828

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