A good source for those doing any research on the UK and African history. Not really in depth but does give a good chunk of information.

The Irish never forget their history, and the Brits never remember it. This time around the Irish are not involved, but the British part is as true as ever. It’s fascinating and refreshing to read a book about the Zulu war. Devastating as well, since it’s about war. I’m so tired of reading about the Second World War, that I don’t read about in anymore. Therefore I’d like to thank the author for researching and writing about something different.

It is indeed true that no one ever speaks of the Zulu War, not even in South Africa. After reading the book I start understanding why. It’s shameful that the British curricula does not have anything in it about the Zulu War. We should learn from our mistakes, especially when they are painful. I’m not saying this particular war is more important than others, and I don’t think it’s something we should dwell about for hours, but surely it’s important enough to be discussed in schools.

I have to be honest and say that after reading the books I can’t remember the names of the battles or the names or ranks of people, but as a whole this book left me feeling sad. I have been pondering about this book since I read the last sentence. It really made me wonder about how the war is seen as part of British history, not that much South African history, and how no one really knows where the battles were fought, and to be fair, it seems like no one really cares.

I feel like I learned a lot. Maybe I dint learn that much about the battles per se, but more about general attitudes, how we reflect on things we’d rather not remember, and sadly, that it seems like we don’t even want to live and learn. The way the British leaders didn’t give any straight answers about why they went to war and what went wrong makes me think the leaders of today are not that different. Doubt we’ll get any clearer answers today...

All in all a great book. However, I would encourage readers to read about “the well-known” history, wars, and stories from that time first, to fully understand the meaning of this brilliant and educational book.