EMILY HOBHOUSE - BOER WAR LETTERS

1984. First Edition. Hardcover with dustcover. 557 pages. Good condition. Tightly bound. A few rust spots on front and back endpages and on page ends.

Edited by Rykie van Reenen

These spirited, on-the-spot letters span Hobhouse's well-known work in the camps, but also her forceful and imaginative role in the ruined former republics after the war. They rescue the woman from the myth. She is seen against an unforgettable backdrop of war-time civilian experience. While the letters are eminently readable in themselves, they ring with persistent historical parallels that will not escape the politically aware contemporary reader. The letters are liberally annotated and the notes and appendices constitute a treasure trove of quotations, anecdote and sidelight: a browser's delight. There is a generous photographic section, highlighting various phases of Emily Hobhouse's life and her South African years.