The Raw War
123 Battles of the Boer War (1899 – 1902)
By Guy Keeling
ISBN 9781928359876
30 Degrees South Publishers, 2023
Soft cover / 592 pages, Black and white photos & illustrations, maps
A narrative and analysis of 123 battles of the Boer War, including battles that were fought without bullets as unbeknown to many – battles are not only fought on the blood-stained battlefield.
Each chapter is assigned to one of six phases of the Boer War
• The Boer offensive – which ended within a month
• The 1st British offensive – a failure
• 2nd British offensive – successful
• The Boers losing the conventional war
• The Boers initiate guerrilla tactics
• The British counter strategy to guerilla tactics
The last phase caused the most emotional destruction and ended the Boer way of life.
The book explains how the Boers had extraordinary little strategy and discipline while some of their brilliant tactics resulted in defensive victories. The British had a strategy and discipline but some of their inept tactics should have resulted in certain generals being found guilty of a war crime.
