The Compassionate Englishwoman by Robert Eales

Emily Hobhouse in the Boer War

298 pages, Paperback

23cm x 15cm (C-Format)

Goodreads Rating: 3.93 * 29 ratings * 6 reviews

Genres: Nonfiction/Boer War/History/War/Biography/Africa

In 1899 the South African War (also known as the Anglo-Boer War) broke out. As the war progressed, in London the upper-class Emily Hobhouse learned of the camps in southern Africa that contained mostly Boer women and children who had been displaced by the hostilities. By herself and on her own initiative, she travelled by ship to Cape Town, to begin the distribution of aid to these camps. Historian Rob Eales has put together this narrative of her time in South Africa, based on letters and diaries she left behind. These reveal that she travelled thousands of kilometres through the war and was appalled by the British army's tactic of clearing the land and herding hundreds of thousands of people into concentration camps, where the awful conditions put the lives of these 'refugees' at risk. She urged the local authorities to provide better care and support, but little changed. So she returned to Britain to plead that immediate action be taken. She was met by indifference from the government and vitriol from the press. This remarkable woman was on the wrong side of history. Her heroic mission could unwittingly have brought down the British government, and her story was smothered. In this book, through careful research, her courageous and inspirational work is once again brought to life.