Battle AFRICOM

The only comprehensive encyclopedia on the Boer War available, this volume offers A-Z entries on the war's origins, military strategy and tactics, main battles and sieges, major political and military figures, weaponry, and other related topics.

The amazing life of Pieter Krueler (1885-1986) provides a window into a full century of conflict such as one man rarely experiences. Four-War Boer traces Krueler''s highly colorful life from the Second Boer War, where he first served as a 14-year-old scout, through his service in World War I with the German army in East Africa, to the Spanish Civil War to World War II, this time with the Allies, and on into the latter part of the 20th century, when he served as a mercenary during the 1960s Congo Crisis.

This three-volume A-to-Z survey spans the recorded history of land warfare around the globe - from the biblical Battle of Jericho to the Russo-Chechen conflict. It not only records the art and science of war as it has been practiced through the ages, but also presents major leaders, planners, generals, heroes and innovators.

Includes maps of: Boer War; Talana Hill/Elandslaagte; Lombard's Kop; Modder River; Magersfontein; Operations for the Relief of Ladysmith; Spion Kop; Relief of Kimberley; Paardeberg; British Advances into the Orange Free State and Transvaal.

Victorious in its previous campaigns in Africa against native armies, Britain now confronted an altogether different foe. The Boers proved to be formidable opponents, masterfully compensating for inferior numbers with grim determination, resourcefulness and strong religious faith. Their mobility, expert use of cover, and knowledge of the terrain, in which they employed powerful long-range magazine rifles, gave them initial advantages. By contrast the British suffered from inadequate transport, insufficient mounted troops and poor intelligence. Despite marshalling the immense resources of their empire, the British were to be severely tested in a war which one general described as ‘the graveyard of many a soldier’s reputation’.

Across the globe, the 19th century signaled the high renaissance of Western Imperialism, with England, France, and other European nations ruling more and more territory.