3 out of 4 stars
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A story of valour, bravery and sacrifice, what better components can a book have? Brutal Valour: The Tragedy of Isandlwana by James Mace is a historical novel which focuses on the bloodthirsty battle which took place in South Africa between the Zulus and the British. This book is a comprehensive overview of the fate suffered by both sides during the Battle of Isandlwana, including the background to this confrontation and outcome. The characters in this book are real people who lived through these events which makes it quite an emotional, as well as informative read for any reader interested in history or learning more about this decisive battle. This book is the first in the Anglo-Zulu war series by James Mace. There is a subsequent book titled Crucible of Honour: The Battle of Rorke’s Drift which I cannot wait to read as a follow-up.
This book attempts to take an unbiased view of the events leading up to this horrific battle. The perspectives of both the British and the Zulu warriors are considered and allows the reader to consider the events of the day from all possible angles. The story starts within the Zulu kingdom, which sets the scene for the backdrop to their change of leadership. Cetshwayo kaMpande, recently disowned as the heir apparent, is fighting for his right to rule the Zulus as their king. The story then switches to Britain where new Army recruits are completing basic training in Brecon, Wales. This provides the background to the young soldiers who graduated and then were sent to defend Natal in South Africa. In particular, the journey of a young private named Arthur is detailed through his basic training, graduation, marriage and the development of his skills within the Army in South Africa. As the story progresses, key British Officers are introduced with their background and experience being provided for the reader. The book weaves between the Zulus and the British, detailing key events that occur leading up to the main battle and how the Zulus deceived the British as to their location. As it follows the journey of Arthur and his friends from the British side, there are individual Zulu warriors who become a focus of their side. It is evident that the author has completed significant research into the Zulu practices at the time as he details the ceremonies and practices that they underwent prior to a major battle. The focus is then placed on the British divisions and how their force was divided and conquered. There are many divisions within the British Army to keep track of and the second half of the book feel more like a history lesson than a novel. Given that the book follows specific characters in more detail, the reader really gets drawn into the fate of these people. As it draws to a close, the realization that these characters were real people who suffered the fate they did is quite overpowering.
Overall, this was a very enjoyable book to read and the author is very gifted in drawing together historical sources and accounts. On a personal level, the history of the Anglo-Zulu wars is of great interest to me and I have good knowledge of the events that occurred. Therefore, if you love history, this book is a brilliant read for you. The author weaves the culture of the Zulu’s well into the book and even uses Zulu speech in section, further evidencing the research which has gone into the compilation. The book, towards the end, can get quite heavy to read with all the characters to follow and all the bloodshed which occurs. However, given the factual historical focus, the characters deserve to be recognized and remembered for their bravery and valour on both sides. I feel that the author has depicted the characters well according to the historical sources we have about them.
There were a number of factors about this book which I did not enjoy. Firstly, the book is riddled with spelling mistakes throughout. An example of a few include; “He wife still sleeping” and “to the white man it was known as warthog”. These spelling errors and grammatical mistakes were throughout the book and it was not a case of one-off errors. This was distracting in the book and made it seem less professional. If I had paid for the book I would not have been happy with this. The other thing that I disliked was the alternation between formal and informal language. The book is set in the 1870s and therefore the language between friends and Army Officers would have been more formal than the casual language they use in the book. The author seems to alternate between formal and informal language throughout the book and uses words and phrases which likely would not have been spoken at this time. Finally, I disliked the fact that many phrases spoken by characters were so similar to those in the script for the film Zulu that it felt at times that the author was copying these.
Overall, I rate this book as a 3 out of 4 and recommend it to other readers. I did not feel that it deserved a 4 out of 4 given that there were so many spelling mistakes which were distracting. However, I did not give it a 2 out of 4 as it was clear that the author had researched the material and did present a relatively historically sound storyline. The other factor is that there are so many historical characters to include in the event and I thought that the author did a very good job of weaving them all into the storyline. I feel that this book is well suited to audiences of any age who wish to read a generally well-written book and feel comfortable with the subject matter of war and loss.
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Brutal Valour: The Tragedy of Isandlwana
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