Why read Black Soldiers of the Queen?

Book cover of Black Soldiers of the Queen: The Natal Native Contingent in the Anglo-Zulu War

Book description

Black Africans made up more than half of the British army that invaded Zululand in January of 1879 and went on to fight the storied battles of Isandlwana, Rorke's Drift, and Ulundi. The British force totaled some 16,800 men, at least 9,000 of whom were Africans. Of these a few,…

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South Africa

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Why read it?

1 author picked Black Soldiers of the Queen as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Ian F.W. Beckett

Author

Together with John Laband, the late Paul Thompson did an enormous amount to bring to light African perspectives on the war. Originally published in a limited edition in South Africa, this is a study of the Natal Native Contingent raised by the British as auxiliaries from African tribes and groups hostile to the Zulu. Poorly armed, they were blamed unjustly by contemporaries for the British defeat at Isandlwana and roundly blamed thereafter for atrocities associated with the aftermath of subsequent British victories. Thompson’s work is a valuable reminder of the often forgotten part played by Africans in the defeat of…

From Ian's list on The best books on Zulus and the Zulu War.