Goodbye Dolly Gray: The Story of the Boer War

Published by Galago, 2008, softcover, illustrated, index, large format, 540 pages, condition: new.

In this account of the Boer War the author describes the background, the arms and armies, the campaigns and personalities of the war in which soldiers marched to a succession of defeats at the hands of sharpshooting farmers.

Written at the end of the 1950s, the war in author Rayne Kruger's rendering was a conflict between Boers and English - often referred to as "two white races" - and Africans seldom play a role in the narrative, except as "Natives" who can be excitable. All works of history must be placed and read in their historical context. A "woke" criticism would be easy. And Kruger notes that: "The Boers said the war was for liberty. The British said it was for equality. The majority of the inhabitants, who were not white at all, gained neither liberty or equality."

Many a historical revision has appeared since and many more will be written in the future - this is what history is about. But I read this because I enjoy narrative history and great writing and this is brimming with both. The anecdotes can be as funny as they are revealing. As fortune-seekers streamed into Johannesburg, various faiths applied for building lots for their houses of worship. Oom Paul Kruger granted the churches two lots, but to the rabbi only one because "You only use half the Bible."