If I could add to Dick Flory's excellant comments, there are a number of good books currently available at reasonable prices that provide a very good background on this conflict. They include the recently published "Fuelling the Empire, South Africa's Gold and the Road to War" by John Stephens, Thomas Pakenham's standard general history "The Boer War" and "The Origins of the South African War; Joseph Chamberlain and the Diplomacy of Imperialism, 1895-1899" by Andrew Porter. Another interesting book on the British army in this period is "Scarlet into Khaki; The British Army on the Eve of the Boer War" by Col. James M.Grierson. This last book was originally published in 1902 but can be had in a more recent reissue. That's just to name a very few. If you can't find anything on the subject in your local book stores, you should consider Clarks of South Africa, which is an excellant, if rather pricey, book store that concentrates on this period of British colonial history. Their service is prompt and efficient, their online catalogue is extensive and they will ship anywhere in the world. While this sounds like an advertisement, it is not, I am just their occasional customer. I have no other connection to that store. I Hope this is of some help. Steve McHenry

Very good advice. Since Danielle is overseas, I would suggest buying books via www.abebooks.com I am in the UK and have used them several times for a variety of books. I found out about them from a local independent bookseller who frequents our local book fairs. They only represent Independent book sellers. Their online site is searchable and on a quick 'boer war' keyword search I found 7787 results. If one uses the 'advanced search' you can filter it for 'cheapest / hard or soft cover' and even for country to keep down postage (UK / US/ AU etc) I like Thomas Pakenham for quick reference because of its index, but one is spoilt for choice. Regards Deirdré Snook ----- Original Message ----- From: Steven R. McHenry To: [email protected] Sent: Saturday, July 12, 2003 11:17 AM Subject: RE: [BOER-WAR] What's the history? If I could add to Dick Flory's excellant comments, there are a number of good books currently available at reasonable prices that provide a very good background on this conflict. They include the recently published "Fuelling the Empire, South Africa's Gold and the Road to War" by John Stephens, Thomas Pakenham's standard general history "The Boer War" and "The Origins of the South African War; Joseph Chamberlain and the Diplomacy of Imperialism, 1895-1899" by Andrew Porter. Another interesting book on the British army in this period is "Scarlet into Khaki; The British Army on the Eve of the Boer War" by Col. James M.Grierson. This last book was originally published in 1902 but can be had in a more recent reissue. That's just to name a very few. If you can't find anything on the subject in your local book stores, you should consider Clarks of South Africa, which is an excellant, if rather pricey, book store that concentrates on this period of British colonial history. Their service is prompt and efficient, their online catalogue is extensive and they will ship anywhere in the world. While this sounds like an advertisement, it is not, I am just their occasional customer. I have no other connection to that store. I Hope this is of some help. Steve McHenry ______________________________