3 out of 4 stars
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Brutal Valour by James Mace is a historical fiction novel about the battle of Isandlwana during the course of the Anglo-Zulu war. Mace presents this novel as a historical account, and within this framework, explores the themes relating to the human cost of war and the process of colonialization as a result of Imperial greed.
Brutal Valour offers various points of view of the lead-up to the battle of Isandlwana on 22 January 1879, from the political machinations of the British stationed in Natal to the ground-level perspectives of a young British private, Arthur Wilkinson, and a Zulu warrior, Kwanele. They are, however, not main characters, which would have grounded the eagle’s eye perspective of the story. This aerial perspective invites the reader to contemplate the battle of Isandlwana as a part of the larger scheme of the Scramble for Africa. This novel is a particularly relevant read due to South Africa’s current political situation, where the issues of “decolonialization”, land redistribution and the motivation to establish an Africanised nation come to the fore. Viewed through the long lens of history, these tense political snarls make sense.
As a work in the historical fiction genre, Brutal Valour has a documentary feel to it; it includes real historical figures, from King Cetshwayo to several of the British officers. The author provided a helpful Cast of Characters page to help readers keep track of the personae. Mace also included photographs, illustrations and maps, which I referred back to often as the battle intensified. The author’s descriptions of the military practices and rituals of the Zulu regiments were fascinating. The amount of research Mace undertook to bring this battle and its surrounding causes to life was extensive – his author’s note is just as interesting to read as Brutal Valour itself. Readers who are sensitive to violence and gore might want to brace themselves during the drawn-out climax that is the battle and the civil war among the Zulu nation in the prologue.
Although I found the writing dry in places, it picked up its pace and even attained a lyrical quality during the battle. Otherwise, I had to concentrate to keep up with the military terminology. There is a glossary to clarify these terms, but they did slow me down a bit while I was reading. There were some spelling mistakes, not bad enough to distract me too much, but they were noticeable. Another round of editing and proofreading will definitely clear them up. Some of the images needed better formatting and higher quality scans of them would definitely help to give the layout of the book a professional appearance, since some images were blurry or too dark. The images in this book worked in tandem with the story to set the scenes and give faces to the characters, so their quality is important. I would have preferred a list of illustrations in the book too. Otherwise, the editing and layout of the writing are fairly professional, except for the spelling errors.
I’ll rate Brutal Valour 3 out of 4 stars. I did not give it a full 4 since I often came across spelling mistakes, and the formatting of the images could definitely be improved. Other than these editing issues, I highly recommend this book to readers who enjoy the historical fiction genre and those who like war stories.
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Brutal Valour: The Tragedy of Isandlwana
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