Jameson's Raid: The Prelude to the Boer War - Elizabeth Longford

The Jameson Raid caused enormous interest and controversy at the time, and, arguably was one of the main causes of the Boer War of 1899-1902. The Raid, led by Cecil Rhodes' lieutenant and confidant, Dr Jameson, was a crude attempt to settle the Transvaal problem of the 1890's by overthrowing Kruger's republic, with the help of the English-speaking Uitlanders of Johannesburg and the Rand, and establishing a pro-British government of some sort in its place. The plan was a disastrous flop: Jamesons troopers of Rhodes' British South Africa Police Force were easily rounded up by the Boer Commandos, and the Uitlander uprising went off at half-cock; British policy in South Africa lay in ruins.