Islandlwana to Ulundi: The Anglo-Zulu War of 1879

’Dear Sister and Brother, death has been very busy gathering his harvest in this country, ’ wrote a soldier of the 80th Regiment from the brutal Anglo-Zulu War front in April 1879. ’War in all its horrors has been let loose.’ Few wars have captured the imagination as much as this conflict, and foreign names like Isandlwana, Rorke’s Drift and Gingindlovu have become entrenched in British military folklore. Eleven Victoria Crosses were earned during the epic bloody battle at Rorke’s Drift. Isandlwana to Ulundi is a compelling narrative of Lord Chelmsford’s invasion of Zululand to conquer Zulu king Cetshwayo’s royal capital of Ulundi. Through soldiers’ letters from a ferocious front, war memoirs and other literary sources, a vivid picture is painted of the course of the conflict, the pressures of war on individuals and units, and of the harsh conditions under which they lived, fought and died.

Chris Schoeman co-authored the autobiographies of Springbok rugby legends Danie Gerber, Frik du Preez (South Africa’s Player of the Century), Os du Randt, and Dawie de Villiers, as well as international cricket umpire Rudi Koertzen. He has also written several books on the Anglo-Boer War, World War I, and South African regional histories.