The Great Boer War

by Arthur Conan Doyle

This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, War, Historical, Military Fiction, Africa, Military History

568 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1900

About the author

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was a Scottish writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for A Study in Scarlet, the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Holmes and Dr. Watson. The Sherlock Holmes stories are milestones in the field of crime fiction.

Doyle was a prolific writer. In addition to the Holmes stories, his works include fantasy and science fiction stories about Professor Challenger, and humorous stories about the Napoleonic soldier Brigadier Gerard, as well as plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction, and historical novels. One of Doyle's early short stories, "J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement" (1884), helped to popularise the mystery of the brigantine Mary Celeste, found drifting at sea with no crew member aboard.

Reviews

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

An attempt to give an objective evaluation of the war. Not entirely possible from CD's standpoint of class and the fact that he was a doctor for part of the war in Blomfontein but relatively interesting. Not as scholarly a work as Pakenham's 'The Boer War' but if you wish to know what battalion was engaged in a minor skirmish in the latter stages of the conflict then the chances are they get a mention in this work. CD interviewed hundreds of soldiers during and shortly after the war so even if slightly biased, the accounts have an attractive immediacy.
He tries to be even-handed in attributing soldierly qualities to Boer and Brit/Commonwealth participants. He tries to set the record straight by recording and explaining some of the actions and conducts that had been questioned by story- and scandal-seeking yellow press in England. The underdog does not always have the moral high ground as the media often suppose.
This is overall a little dry and not really reading for pleasure or escapism despite CD's skill as a story-teller.

[Makomai · Rating 1 out of 5]

Propaganda di guerra

Pubblicato nel 1900 (quindi a guerra in corso), il libro fu corretto ed aggiornato a piu’ riprese, sino a raggiungere 19 edizioni in tre anni. Questa edizione definitiva del 1903 consiste di 80 pagine introduttive in cui vengono evocati gli eventi che condussero alla seconda guerra anglo-boera del 1899-1902, e di altre 663 pagine in cui si analizzano le battaglie.
E’ quindi perlopiu’ una cronaca di battaglie (Conan Doyle fu medico volontario nella guerra), e non un testo di storia.
La parte introduttiva e’ semplicemente scandalosa nella sua partigianeria. Non che non ce lo si dovesse attendere da parte di un fiero britannico, ma dall’inventore di Sherlock Holmes mi aspettavo almeno un testo coerente e leggibile, quando invece e’ sconnesso e scritto in un inglese atroce (c'e' persino un "most heavy" che mi ha fatto rabbrividire!).
La descrizione delle battaglie e’ minuziosa, ma anch’essa molto di parte, anche se – a guerra vinta – Conan Doyle si permette il lusso di riconoscere il valore dei suoi avversari (il che oltretutto esalta ancor di piu’ i meriti dei vincitori).
Il successo di pubblico di un’opera a difesa dell’immagine del Regno Unito, avventatosi in una guerra discussa per le sue motivazioni e per la sua condotta (tra l’altro, morirono piu’ boeri nei campi di concentramento inglese che non in battaglia), contribui’ certamente a fare del suo autore un baronetto del regno, ben piu’ che le sue storie investigative.

[Rex Libris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Conan Doyle, of Sherlock Holmes fame, attempts to give a neutral history of the Boer War. To a certain extent he is successful; he does not hesitate to give credit where credit is due in terms of the successes of the Boer armies, as well as giving credit to leaders who attempt to keep troops inline
with traditional rules of war. He does seem to get a little biased when he speaks of the causes of the war. One of the causes, he argues, is the disenfranchisement of the miners and others who set up shop in Boer territories. As they are not official citizens, they do not get to participate in the government. For a British person to be critical of this is rank hypocrisy given the events that preceded the American Revolution.

One of the things I didn't like about this book, and a trend in other works such as Sir Nigel, is the heroic glorification of war. Fighting to the death after poor generalship has placed into peril is not heroic and should not be encouraged. Sadly, war may be a necessary event, but one should be careful about over-romanticizing it.

[Craig Herbertson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly interesting book written at a time when war was perceived as a glorious affair rather than a meaningless slaughter. Lots of things not mentioned though for political reasons

[Rob Hunt · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't give up on books very often but this was one.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great read only because of the brilliant wordsmithing by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

The writing is incomparable to most modern writers in terms of wit, however, I needed to have google maps/google Boer War Maps open to understand the spatiality of the battles and their significance. Conan Doyle was clearly writing to an audience who understood clearly the names and places he recounted. And the reader also gets an appreciation for a great many other (racist, and/or sexist) statements that flow without question from the 19th Century.

The Boer War, told from the perspective of the British, is familitar to anyone who has served in Iraq or Afghanistan, as one finds a skilled enemy who does quite well against a world superpower. I found the British military frustrations with public opinion at home to be very familiar. Many of the strains upon lines of communication, of tribal loyalties, and of public works projects are also very familiar to our modern conflicts. One stark difference is that the Boers had no safe-haven or nation-state backer and eventually had to sue for peace.

Definitely worth a read, but you need to find your own maps!

[Nathan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is straight military history - written during and immediately afterwards. The first 3 chapters, which talk about the buildup to war, were interesting enough. I would have liked more about the pre-war history.

I'm not a fan of descriptions of the mechanics of war - When I read Gibbon's Decline & Fall of the Roman Empire, I chose the military abridged version - so I may or may not finish this book.

- - -

I finished this, more due to perseverance than interest. There are about 40 pages dealing with attitudes and lessons learned that are of interest to the general reader. The other 400+ pages recount soldiers doing essentially the same things over and over. These actions were critical, indeed life and death, to those personally involved - but the litany of engagements does not hold the interest of the general reader.

[Dale Amidei · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ends his history of 'The Great Boer War' this way:

"The British flag under our best administrators will mean clean government, honest laws, liberty and equality to all men. So long as it continues to do so, we shall hold South Africa. When, out of fear or out of greed, we fall from that ideal, we may know that we are stricken with that disease which has killed every great empire before us."

So it goes, as we who study history are doomed to watch it repeated by those who do not. TGBW is an extensive and detailed account of two years and seven months which began in the reign of Victoria and ended under Edward VII, claimed more than twenty thousand lives, and left ten times that number of men stricken by the ravages of battle.

Today the conflict is largely forgotten, being but a precursor of the great war to come a mere decade and a half afterward. All study of war is cautionary tale, undertaken with a hope that we can do better for the future ... in the midst of foreboding whispering of past generations who once surely thought the same.

[Lucas Romano · Rating 2 out of 5]

Un compte rendu partial et laborieux sur la guerre. Pour ceux qui espèrent un ouvrage historique avec la patte Conan Doyle, passez votre chemin.
Ceci est un journal de guerre qui détaille les opérations militaires jusqu'à la capitulation des Boers.
Mais ne croyez pas en l'objectivité de l'auteur. L'ouvrage est un plaidoyer à la gloire de l'Empire britannique mettant en scène une justification presque humanitaire du conflit, à laquelle seuls les naïfs croiront. Pour les passionnés de la période, pourquoi pas. Pour les autres il faut s'accrocher pour en voir le bout.

[Harriet Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Great Boer War, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

I forced myself to finish reading the Great Boer War, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, about two groups of people, who had no business being in South Africa. Although the British won, there was plenty of Boer influence. Their policies lead to many years of brutal racial discrimination, which they called Apartheid.

Of course we have to learn history, but this was horrible.

[Daniel Little · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘The Great Boer War’, by Arthur Conan Doyle (written previous to his knighthood), is a concise, well-written account of the Boer War. Doyle not only gives an easy to follow account of what was a rather complicated conflict, but he also shares much about the leaders from both sides in an amazingly unbiased way considering his own experience during the war. He also gives credit to the Canadian troops who fought bravely throughout the various campaigns. To learn more about the Boer War, visit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_... and to learn more about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, visit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_...

www.daniellittle.com

[Bob · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was not the read I expected. I was looking for a good overall description of the Boer War. This was far from a military read. What made it more difficult was the propensity of older descriptive words. Of course ACD wrote this over 100 years ago, so much of that is anticipated, but it did slow me down a bit.
If only it had a more linear flow. Just not what I was looking for.

[john alan quinn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cracking read

The best factual book i have read in years. The detail is exceptional and the standard of the writing makes it an easy read.

[Dmitrii Petukhov · Rating 1 out of 5]

It becomes apparent that this book stands as a prime example of propagandistic literature.

[Dan Nance · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring as hell

Thought it would never get to the point. No no no no no no no. I don't need more words

[وسام عبده · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting book about the history of colonial south Africa and the rising and decline of Boer people. The most amazing is the absence of the local people in this conflict ion of imperial and colonial European powers.
It is a good book if you like the history.

[Lenp]

I was hoping for more of a bird's eye view of the war. The detailed descriptions of each skirmish have become tedious, and I seem to have lost interest in continuing to read this book. Maybe I will come back to it in a while - I would like to read about the latter stages of the war.

[Spanishliz · Rating 3 out of 5]

The edition I read was actually published before the end of The Great Boer war in 1902, but no need to list yet another edition.

[Shaun Chattey]

Full of truth.