Commando: A Boer Journal of the Anglo-Boer War

Title: Commando
Subtitle: A Boer Journal of the Anglo-Boer War
Author: Deneys Reitz
Editior: Fransjohan Pretorius
Publisher: Jonathan Ball Publishers
Johannesburg, South Africa 2024
ISBN 9781776193691 / ISBN 978-1-77-619369-1
Softcover, 15 x 23 cm, 310 pages, text in English

About: Commando. A Boer Journal of the Anglo-Boer War

In 1899, Deneys Reitz, then aged seventeen, enlisted in the Boer army to fight the British. He had learnt to ride, shoot and swim almost as soon as he could walk. He made full use of these skills and the endurance he had acquired in the next three years of the war, during which he fought with the Boer commandos. Deneys Reitz was involved in major actions, like the battle of Spioen Kop, and he interacted with prolific political and military figures of the time, such as President Paul Kruger, Boer generals Piet Joubert, Louis Botha, Koos de la Rey, Christiaan Beyers, Jan Smuts and British commander Lord Kitchener. He even met the young Winston Churchill as a prisoner-of-war in Pretoria.

Deneys Reitz forged a strong personal and political friendship with General Jan Smuts after the war, built on reciprocal respect. Commando: A Boer Journal of the Anglo-Boer War is more than a historical document; it is a literary masterpiece that transcends time. With prose that captures both the brutality and the beauty of the Anglo-Boer War, Reitz weaves a narrative that resonates with authenticity and passion. As relevant today as when it was first penned, Commando: A Boer Journal of the Anglo-Boer War, edited and annotated by historian and Anglo-Boer War expert, Professor Fransjohan Pretorius, has become a South African classic and stands as a testament to the indomitable human spirit.

Fransjohan Pretorius, Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Pretoria, and the author or editor of eight books on the Anglo-Boer War. His book Commando: Life during the Anglo-Boer War 1899-1902 received several awards, and the English translation was runner-up for the Sunday Times Alan Paton Prize. He is also the author of the bestseller Verskroeide Aarde that was based on a popular television documentary.

Deneys Reitz (1882–1944) fought in the Second Boer War for the Boer Republics against the British Empire. After a period of exile in French Madagascar he returned to South Africa, where he became a lawyer and founded a major South African law firm. In the First World War he fought for the Union of South Africa against the German Empire, and then was appointed an officer in the British Army, commanding several battalions. In later years he acted as a politician and minister of the South African Party.

Content: Commando. A Boer Journal of the Anglo-Boer War

Foreword
Preface
'Memrys Tower'
On the Brink
To the Frontier
We Invade Natal
A Battle
Ups and Downs
An Affair at Surprise Hill
A Visit to the Tugela Line - Tragedy of the Red Fort
The Battle of Spion Kop
The Rest of Our Corporalship is Destroyed
A Campaign in the Free State
The British Invade the Transvaal
Farther Afield
New Conditions
A Successful Affair, and After
From West to East
End of the A.C.C. - I Start for the Cape Colony
The Next Stage
Further South
We Go into the Cape and Meet with a Warm Reception
Horses and Men
Moss-Trooping
A Long Trail
Calmer Waters