Crucible of Honour: The Battle of Rorke's Drift

The Anglo-Zulu War #2

by James Mace

It is January of 1879. While three columns of British soldiers and their African allies cross the uMzinyathi River to commence the invasion of the Zulu Kingdom, a handful of redcoats from B Company, 2/24th Regiment are left to guard the centre column’s supply depot at Rorke's Drift.On the morning of 22 January, the main camp at Isandlwana, just ten miles to the east, comes under attack from the entire Zulu army and is utterly destroyed. Four thousand warriors from King Cetshwayo’s elite Undi Corps remained in reserve and were denied any chance to take part in the fighting. Led by Prince Dabulamanzi, they disobey the king’s orders and cross into British Natal, seeking their share in triumph and spoils. They soon converge on Rorke’s Drift; an easy prize, with its paltry force of 150 redcoats to be readily swept aside.Upon hearing of the disaster at Isandlwana, and with retreat impossible, the tiny British garrison readies to receive the coming onslaught. Leading them is Lieutenant John Chard, a newly-arrived engineer officer with no actual combat experience. Aiding him is B Company’s previously undistinguished officer commanding, Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead, along with 24-year old Colour Sergeant Frank Bourne, and a retired soldier-turned civilian volunteer named James Dalton.Unbeknownst to either the British or the Zulus, half of the centre column, under Lord Chelmsford’s direct command, was not even at Isandlwana, but fifteen miles further east, at Mangeni Falls. However, with a huge Zulu force of over twenty-thousand warriors between them and the drift, their ammunition and ration stores taken or destroyed, and an impossible distance to cover, Chelmsford’s battered column cannot possibly come to the depot’s aid, and must look to their own survival. The defenders of Rorke’s Drift stand alone.

Genres: History, Military Fiction

420 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 28, 2017

About the author

James Mace is an author, historian, and life-long storyteller. He began writing as a hobby in the early 2000s, penning physical fitness articles for a bodybuilding website and a magazine called Hardcore Muscle.

James wrote the initial draft of his first novel, Soldier of Rome: The Legionary, as a cathartic means of escapism while serving in Iraq from 2004 to 2005. He has since released thirty-five books, including fifteen Ancient History best-sellers, and five South African History best-sellers. His works currently span his two favourite eras: Ancient Rome and the British Empire.

Outside of writing historical novels, James is a Research Historian and Script Writer for the channel, Redcoat History. He maintains a blog called The Buffed Historian, sharing random fitness articles and other tales from across history. His hobbies include weightlifting, road cycling, foothills hikes, travelling across the globe, live theatre, video games, and sitting down for a game of Dungeons & Dragons with friends.

James can be reached via his website: www.legionarybooks.net
Official Facebook page: www.facebook.com/legionarybooks
Instagram: @legionarybooks
Threads: @legionarybooks
BlueSky: @legionarybooks.bsky.social
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/james...

Reviews

[Clay Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

The detail in this book is excellent. Interesting that some of the lines from the Zulu movie are in this book. The cover art made it difficult to read the back cover and make out the Zulus on the front.

[Trey Tudor · Rating 5 out of 5]

AN AMAZING DEPICTION

Like so many of my generation, I first encountered the story of Rorke's Drift through the movie, Zulu, many years ago. To read the "un-Hollywood" story is both fascinating and enlightening. The men of that bloody struggle come alive even more so than the movie can ever hope to depict. And a very satisfying aspect is Mr. Mace's thoughtful treatment of BOTH sides of the conflict. It brings a strong sense of humanity to a very inhuman day (and night). In my opinion, this reads like a fine documentary, where the sense of being there, and reliving the horror of that battle, goes a long way to achieving Mace's goal: to honor and remember the service and courage of all, civilian, imperial, and native who fought that fateful day. Job well done, sir!

[Chuck Talk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book, a rare truth filled history.

This is one of those authors that takes a critical eye to history and does not varnish it with any glory or patriotism. It is as ugly and gritty as truth allows, yet compelling in it's oratory of the traumatic trials of soldiers used as pawns in an illegal war, conceived for political and financial gain. The men fought for their lives and their fellows, they survived when they should not have. It is a testament to the bravery of the men that they survived at all. The disdain shown them by the commanders who so thought them unworthy is evidence of the arrogance that brought them into their circumstance. Rightly lauded for bravery, most suffered greatly from the experience, and could not be adequately compensated for their sacrifices.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

The real story of Rorke's Drift

Mr Mace brings the same amount of research applied to his Soldier of Rome to the Anglo-Zulu War. As an American this is a fascinating part of world history that we do not learn much about. Like Mr. Mace, the first I heard of Rorke's Drift read from the movie "Zulu!" which I loved. But it did leave a lot of questions. Crucible of Honour ties in with Brutal Valor to bring Rorke's Drift into context with the Battle of Isandlwana. Like all well written historical novels, it informs the reader as well as any history book while also drawing him into the story. None of Mr. Mace's books disappoint.

[Kevin Gardner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

Crucible of Honour is the second book in James Maces Zulu War series, and it realy is a superb read, I read the Kindle version and formatting problems were very few and certainly did not distract from the story. I have noticed a couple of bad reviews of this book and I can only think that the reviewers are nit picking, this is a fictional view of a real event and the author has done a outstanding job of bringing all the known events into a excellent and readable story. Mr Mace has olso written a excellent Trilogy on the Napoleonic War as well as a couple of different series on the Romans, the napoleonic trilogy was another excellent read, and all are very highly recommended.

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent Description of a Small but Important Piece of History

IMHO you will want to watch the movie Zulu before reading this book. Doing it in the opposite order may cause some disappointment with the movie’s extreme liberty with some of the characters and individual events (watch Zulu Dawn first).

I liked this book a lot. There’s no need to describe the story, Rorke’s Drift itself is well documented (being quite possibly the greatest ‘against the odds’ battle in history). Extra kudos for telling Casheweyo’s thoughts and experiences, touching on the difficulty of being a permanently wounded soldier and the difficulties of being an enlisted man’s wife.
However, I found the switching names, Zulu military references etc a bit difficult to follow (needing to go back a page or check terminology references). I would have stuck with a single name for each character (Bromhead and Hitch for example) instead of occasionally referencing them by nicknames. A VERY small complaint yet with so many names, locations, Zulu references etc to follow, simplifying the reference checks is, imho, important.

[Bruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read about the Zulu War over the years and have to say that Mace has an eye for historical detail as well as bringing real people to life with their dialogue. I'm just about finished with Book 3 and plan to move on to Book 4. The series tells the story of the Zulu War mostly through British eyes. That makes sense because of the availability of records. He does not neglect the Zulu side of the story and I found the dialogue among the Zulus to be plausible, even probable as they realized they were fighting a war they could not possibly win.

[donald parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

First class read,

If you like military history history this is the book for you. The true story of one of the most famous battles of the British Army.After reading the look try to go to the museum of the South Wales Borderers in Brecon south Wales.You won't regret it.You will actually see the V.C.s on display.

[Lady Safari · Rating 5 out of 5]

Audiobook Review

As I have been on many of these Anglo-Zulu War Battlefields as a guide, I thoroughly enjoyed this rendition. It’s so good to get a fresh perspective on these battles.

Well done to both author and narrator. I’m pleased to report that this book has been amended and no longer refers to crocodiles as alligators!

[Barbara Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

An Excellent Historical Read

I read James Mace' Book 1 Brutal Valour and was very impressed with the background study he put into the book . This sequel was even better. A Home Run.
.

[Dwight Hills · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

Really enjoyed the Way history is brought to life.
Would like to visit site of the battle to honor those
who fought there.
It’s time for a movie to correct so much of fiction In “Zulu”.

[John Phillips · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely terrific

Mr. Mace has done a wonderful job of bringing the battle of Rorke',s drift alive. Having seen the movie Zulu many years ago his telling brought the truth of the battle to the masses.

[Steven Malone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this detailed and well researched study of this battle.

If you watched the film 'Zulu', 1964, here's what really happened.

[Don · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply brilliant

The most detailed and accurate portrayal of this battle I've ever read. Strongly recommend to anyone interested in it and the people involved