TOPIC:

I’ve just read the first chapter in my latest acquisition. History of the South African War by F. T. Stevens which, even though it is not marked, I believe was first published in 1903.

I am fairly new to the history of the Boer War so am worried that reading so obviously a biased and prejudged history… “an attack on OUR rising Cape Colony” and “OUR soldiers”, may not give me a fair and considered view of the conflict, although I am interested in reading about it in the context of the time as that will inform me about how the war was viewed in Britain at the time and probably tell be me a lot about British society and contemporary thinking from the period.

So long as I keep an open mind and also ensure I read more modern interpretations of events I don’t see any harm in reading such an old book, but what do you guys think? Should I read more on the subject before subjecting myself to the 1903 view or would this view, with any historical failings, be of genuine interest as well?

Mick,

All of the books on the Boer War have an axiological bias as authors choose what to include/exclude and whose views to give voice to and whose to suppress. Some accounts have a high degree of bias which are quite jarring to a modern reader so a healthy degree of scepticism, as you have, is a useful filter to adopt.

If you would like to see the conflict from a completely different perspective, you could try Davitt's book

Best wishes
David

Thanks, I'll put it on my list. It might balance things out once I've finished my current read. I've actually just found a lovely first edition for sale but it 's very expensive, but as I love old books I may decide to save up rather than look for a cheaper alternative.

I think that you have to read widely to form an objective view . I dont think that the Boer Wars have become the academic battleground seen with the the Zulu War . I used to chat to my late friend , Ron Lock , who wrote a number of books on the Zulu War, about the flood of books available on the topic. At the time there were a number of wealthy Zulu War "groupies " who bought everything that was ever published . Naturally the authors supplied to a ready market. Some , like Ron , took the trouble to do some real archival research and produce books with historical merit. Many others simply produced distillations of the works of other authors ( wih lots of pictures , of course ) . These added nothing to the body of knowledge.
David is right about reading Davitt's book as an antidote to the jingoistic books written in the early 1900s. The real truth is out there but its up to you to decide what is reality and what is propaganda.
Good luck !

I'd recommend starting with Thomas Packenham's book on the Boer War. Modern and balanced, IMHO.

Mick
1903 was indeed the date of Steven's book, and yes, as with many books about the Anglo Boer War conflict you will come across many jingoistic views by many authors of the Victorian era. I suggest if you really want to glean knowledge on this fascinating subject is to keep a very open mind and after Stevens book, as David has suggested the Davitt, possibly followed by Pakenham's tome which are well worth a read for what many armchair and academic scholars on the subject call balanced. Although, as with many historical accounts of warfare and it's contributors, authors views and research can be embellished.
In this instance the reader has to decide on where authors loyalties lie and what was included and excluded to suit the narrative.

Rayne Kruger, Bill Nasson for a S.A perspective and Martin Bossenbroek for a Dutch angle on the war. Rayne Kruger's Goodbye Dolly Gray is one of my personal favourites, 1st published in 1959. Along with the US historian  Byron Farwell's The Great Anglo Boer War. Not forgetting Arthur Conan Doyle's publication, The Great Boer War.

 Leo Amerys and Fredrick Maurice along with Louis Creswickes volumned history of the conflict is also well worth a visit.
These volumes  will give you an overview of the complete campaign. Albeit full of jingoism and imperialism they also contain some excellent information on the subject. And of course these were used by the above modern authors for some of their research regarding their publications.

 I would also suggest you may like to delve into the controversial 2014 book by Chris Ash entitled Kruger, Kommandos & Kak. Uncomfortable reading for some and highly controversial, it provides  a modern take on previous authors views of jingoistic imperialism and empire bashing. Although, I have to say Mr Ash does like to contribute his own jingoism and controversy into his books.

If you manage to trawl through the above publications and your interest hasn't wained.
I personally think you will have had a very good overview of the conflict from all its angles and I am sure after devouring all the information written in the above books you will certainly be able to form your own valued opinion on the history of the Anglo Boer War.