PublishedPen And Sword, June 2023 |
ISBN9781784388423 |
FormatHardcover, 256 pages |
Dimensions23.4cm × 15.6cm |
"A comprehensive collection of first-hand accounts. This is a veritable treasure-trove, for both general readers and researchers." - John Laband "Yes you have beaten us; you had the best guns, but we have the best men . . . But we'll fight again in two or three years' time." - Prince Dabulamanzi kaMpande (who led the Zulu at Rorke's Drift) On 22 January 1879, during the final hour of the Battle of Isandlwana - one of the greatest disasters ever to befall British troops during the Victorian era - a very different story was about to unfold a few miles away at the mission station of Rorke's Drift.
A Zulu force of more than 3,000 warriors had turned their attention to the small outpost, defended by around 150 British and Imperial troops. The odds of the British surviving were staggeringly low. The British victory that ensued, therefore, would go down as one of the most heroic actions of all time, and has fascinated military history enthusiasts for decades. In this classic work, Anglo-Zulu War experts Lee Stevenson, Alan Baynham-Jones and Ian Knight examine a wide range of personal testimonies from those present at Rorke's Drift, while also presenting a clear overview of the battle in its entirety. By reading this account, readers will gain an impressive, unique breadth of knowledge about one of the most epic battles in British history.This updated edition includes even more first-person accounts from the combatants on both the British and Zulu sides. Providing personal, microscopic accounts of events, while at the same time presenting a clear overview of the battle in its entirety, this second volume completes the collection of accounts of the defenders of Rorke's Drift and also includes contemporary accounts of those who saw the immediate aftermath of the battle. AUTHORS: Lee Stevenson has a long-standing fascination with the Defence of Rorke's Drift thanks to his late father, Ray, who sparked his interest with a gift of a book about the Anglo-Zulu war when Lee was fourteen. Forty years later, he is still researching the lives of the men who fought there and has written numerous articles for magazines and regimental journals. In 2003, along with his friend and fellow Rorke's Drift enthusiast Alan Baynham-Jones, he published a collection of first-hand accounts and stories written by the defenders, Rorke's Drift: By Those Who Were There. This is an expanded and updated version of that book. Ian Knight is internationally recognised as a leading authority on the Anglo-Zulu War. He has contributed to numerous TV documentaries on the subject, including the BBC's Timewatch and Channel 4's Secrets of the Dead. In 2000, he was the historian attached to the archaeological dig at the Isandlwana battlefield. He has written and co-written numerous books on the subject, including The Anatomy of the Zulu Army, Brave Men's Blood, The National Army Museum Book of the Zulu War, Zulu Rising and Who's Who in the Zulu War. He is a recipient of the Anglo-Zulu War Historical Society's Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi Award for a lifetime's achievement in the field. Alan Baynham-Jones was born in Plymouth, Devon in 1948. Whilst working for the Ministry of Defence, Alan found his lifetime interest in the Anglo-Zulu War, and in particular the defence of Rorke's Drift, was shared by a work colleague, and they spent many long night-shifts discussing the subject. Alan also worked as a volunteer at the Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum for many years, and then later was asked to assist with the daunting task of cataloguing the vast archives at the Royal Welsh Regimental Museum in Brecon. He was instrumental in the discovery, restoration, and subsequent re-dedication of a number of graves of Rorke's Drift defenders across the UK. Alan died in 2017 in Gloucester. 40 b/w illustrations
