With Monday marking the 110th anniversary of the South African War, Kalk Bay Books‘ Ann Donald takes a look at a collection of topical memoirs and historical accounts, of which Pakenham’s The Boer War and Reitz’s Adrift on the Open Veld are must-reads:
Though I didn’t realise it at the time, studying history at school in the ’70s was part of the ongoing battle between those of Boer and those of Anglo origin. At an English school the Great Trek and the Boer wars were elements of history we were obliged to do. Written from the point of view of the “victors”, along with the rote learning of the names of the National Party ministers, it was implicit that Van Jaarsveld’s prescribed history was not “our” history. Of course, South African history from either of the white perspectives was completely different to the history of black South Africans, but that consideration was never allowed on the school desk.
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