There are essentially two types of history books - those written for the general populace and those written for other historians. Brian Roberts definitely knows what he's talking about, but his dry style & lack of overarching narrative definitely makes this one of the second group. Each individual chapter works, but there's no flow between - I would pick this up as a reference if I was studying the cultural effects of the Boer War, but not for personal enjoyment.

The writing is very dry and uninteresting, in contrast with the content and what it could be.