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Interested members
Thanks to Trev, I became aware of this work and lost no time in obtaining same. This book is a quite remarkable history of the 1st NSWMR. The detail, culled from many sources, is extensive and the bio's of members of that unit is particularly useful. I was pleased to find interesting references to members of 1NSWMR whose medals are in my current custody - including a couple of pics of a member who has previously featured on this Forum. Always nice to see pics of OR's in addition to just those of Commanding. Officers, etc.
If any Forum member is fortunate to have custody of a 1st NSWMR medal, or wishes to examine the activities of this crack unit, they would benefit from this extensive Regimental history.
Regards
IL.

Hi Ian,
Congrats on receiving your book. My copy is sitting at the post office awaiting for me to return from holidays. Looking forward to getting home and turning the mobile off and locking everybody else in the household outside so that I can put the feet up and enjoy some peace and quite with my new read.

Trev

I've just received my copy of The Boer War in Colour by Tinus le Roux (Jonathan Ball publishers).
It's delightful, and just the thing to pore over when having an idle moment. It's a very high quality book, and beautifully done. I chose the hard cover version, and am pleased I did.

This is the first of several books on the Boer War written by Edward Spiers that I have read. It recounts the siege of Mafeking from diaries and letters.

The book adopts a critical perspective for example regarding the medical and nursing problems in the town and addresses some thorny issues such as BPs treatment of all the town's inhabitants. The book gives a comprehensive view of the siege and includes a few pictures from The Graphic and ILN et al.

The book is very well referenced and has been very enjoyable to read. Afterwards, I will read his other books on Ladysmith and Kimberley.

I acquired the book in the UK via World of Books (Wob) at a post-free cost of £7 against a published price of £20.

One book I've begun to read, the second is in the queue.

'Mafeking.' by Brian Gardner [Cassell, 1966] was a find at a used-book shop in Shrewsbury's indoor market, and cost me £4. Many of you will know this book, and it seems to me so far to be a good read. The author doesn't take long to debunk some of the Baden-Powell story!
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I haven't yet started to read 'Oxfordshire People and the Forgotten War,' by Ann Spokes Symonds [Robert Boyd Publications, 2002], but from a look through, it's very much to my liking. It doesn't cover the military actions so much, but concentrates on the personal side, and includes family archives and photographs; there's also an impressive number of Oxfordshire war memorials photographed, with some quite obscure ones too. I got my copy off eBy gum.
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I have recently finished these two volumes on the siege of Mafeking published by Brenthurst Press in 2001.

The physical quality of the two books is excellent. It is printed on great quality paper that feels luxurious.

The contents equal the product room quality with a number of chapters covering different aspects of the siege, written by well-known and authoritative authors. This is the table of contents;



Another fantastic aspect of the two volume is the number of pictures they contain, many of which are not in the popular set normally associated with the siege. I would have preferred it if the pictures were larger but appreciate the constraints of fitting so much information into the two volume format.

The two volumes are very well sourced and also draw on material in the Brenthurst library such as the archive belonging to Colonel Vyvyan.

I particularly like the chapter which looks at how the siege had been seen in the past 120 years, reflecting the changing perspectives through which the siege has been viewed.

When Colin Walker reviewed the two books he commented on the lack of biographical information on those involved. There are portraits of some of the main personalities and protagonists but Colin is correct to say it is not a nominal roll and other sources needs to be used to discover the names of those involved, where they are known.

That notwithstanding, this is an excellent publications which takes a step back to identify some of the main themes of the siege and then explores them in detail.

I was sad when I turned the last page of the second volume, a good indication of a very enjoyable read.