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by J. C. Smuts,Deneys Reitz

J. C. Smuts Deneys Reitz Humanities English

Free eBook Commando: A Boer Journal of the Boer War download

ISBN: 1163199710
Author: J. C. Smuts,Deneys Reitz
Publisher: Kessinger Publishing, LLC (September 10, 2010)
Language: English
Pages: 336
Category: Other
Subcategory: Humanities
Size MP3: 1673 mb
Size FLAC: 1347 mb
Rating: 4.3
Format: lrf docx lit mobi

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Deneys Reitz was 17 when the Anglo-Boer War broke out in 1899. Reitz describes that he had no hatred of the British people, but "as a South African, one had to fight for one's country. Commando is a straightforward narrative that describes an extraordinary adventure and brings us a vivid, unforgettable picture of mobile guerrilla warfare, especially later in the war as General Smuts and men like Reitz fought on, braving heat, cold, rain, lack of food, clothing and boots, tiring horses.

In this book we encounter famous Boer leaders like Jan Smuts (who writes the Introduction), Louis Botha . The journal follows Mr. Reitz from his initial battle at Ladysmith to the final surrender of the Boer forces several years later.

In this book we encounter famous Boer leaders like Jan Smuts (who writes the Introduction), Louis Botha, Christiaan de Wet, Koos de la Rey with his warrior-mystic Nicolaas Van Rensburg, Piet Joubert, Manie Moritz, and the "incredibly ugly" Paul Kruger. The author was present at many major battles, including Ladysmith, Spion Kop, and Elands River where the famous British 17th Lancers were badly defeated.

Deneys Reitz was the young son of a former President of the Orange Free State. Like most other young Boer men he joined a commando at the outbreak of the Boer War in 1899.

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Deneys Reitz was 17 when the Anglo-Boer War broke out in 1899 Commando is a straightforward narrative that describes an extraordinary adventure and brings us a vivid, unforgettable picture of mobile guerrilla warfare, especially later in th. Reitz describes that he had no hatred of the British people, but as a South African, one had to fight for one's country. In the foreword Field Marshall JC Smuts states the book embodies the romance of South Africa, a sentiment with which I agree, but it is a romance with a regrettable amount of blood, suffering, tragedy and bitterness which we have amazingly been able to transcend and forge a nation from our warring factions.

Deneys Reitz (1882-1944), son of Francis William Reitz, was a Boer warrior who fought in the Second Boer War for the South African Republic against the British Empire. After a period of exile in Madagascar he returned to South Africa, where he became a lawyer and founded a major South African law firm. In the First World War he fought for the Union of South Africa against the German Empire, and then was an officer in the British Army, commanding several battalions.

It is one of those books that most will find difficult to set down before it is finished. The author had a most incredible life which is doccumented in Commando and two subsequent books. The book provides insight into the Boer culture and a turn of the century concept: honor. Published by Thriftbooks. Deneys Reitz joined the Boer forces fighting against the English in the 1900, 02 Boer War in South Africa.

Deneys Reitz was 17 when the Anglo-Boer War broke out in 1899 Books related to Commando: A Boer Journal of the Boer War. Skip this list. Reitz had learned to ride, shoot and swim almost as soon as he could walk, and the skills and endurance he had acquired during those years were to be made full use of during the war. He fought with different Boer Commandos, where each Commando consisted mainly of farmers on horseback, using their own horses and guns. Books related to Commando: A Boer Journal of the Boer War.

Learn more about Commando: A Boer Journal Of The Boer War by Deneys Reitz. Published In Penguin Books MCMXLVIII. Preface by Field-Marshall The Right Honourable J. Smuts.

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

User reviews

Kagda

This is a very well written combat memoir, written shortly after the end of the Boer War (1899-1902) by one of it's youngest participants. Deneys Reitz was 17 when the war began and he immediately joined up. He was Boer but educated in English and his father was an official in the Boer government. He fought in nearly all of the most well-known battles of the war and stuck it out all the way to the bitter end. This is one of the best combat memoirs ever written about any war at any time or place. The Boer War was the preview to WWI in many ways, seeing the first use of barbed wire and the first use of smokeless powder, both of which changed warfare in fundamental ways. It was also the first war in which the British Army lost more men to combat than disease. Early in the war, while he was on a brief leave, Reitz accompanied his father to a POW camp where they met Winston Churchill. Reitz' account should be compared to Churchill's own, which is included in his own history of the war. Was Churchill carrying a Mauser pistol when captured or not? You decide. The best overall history of the war is by Thomas Pakenham, which is also a classic of military history. Reading these two books together will take you into the heart of a little-known conflict that began the 20th century and foreshadowed much of the bloody decades that followed. Deneys Reitz later fought on the British side in France during WWI and left a memoir of that experience that is also very much worth reading. He was a very intelligent, very observant man, with a rare ability to write in English, which was one of five languages he spoke.

Jogas

This book is a memoir of a young man, a Boer of south Africa and his fellowmen who battled against the colonial rule of the British in the second Boer war - they lost and became vassals of Britain. In many ways their battles against the British army parallel our USA revolution of 1776 except their fight for freedom ended in 1902. The Boers were not skillful tacticians. They used hit and run tactics that only pecked away at the British. The British had some 50,000 trained soldiers from the British Empire, Australian, Canada, Newfoundland, British India, New Zealand and South Africa sympathizers like the Tories of our revolution

A good history of the common soldier, their deprivation, starvation, discouragement and death.

MARK BEN FORD

I decided to read this book because of my overall ignorance of the Boer War and the fact that much of what I do know has come from the British side. However, being that the writer was just another average guy on a horse, it's hard to get any sort of overview of what was going on during the time he was fighting the British. There is no big picture, but there is a lot of riding through beautiful country and sometimes harsh weather with companions who come and go, a lot of bravery and privation and, in the end, defeat. However, Mr. Reitz is an engaging writer, and while I'm not certain I want to read his account of his exile from his homeland following the end of this war, I will probably at some point take on his third volume, which regards his service in World War I with -- ironically -- the British.

Kerry

An excellent books of the exploits of a Denys Reitz, who at 17 joined the Boer Army for the fight for their freedom. The journal follows Mr. Reitz from his initial battle at Ladysmith to the final surrender of the Boer forces several years later. The information in his journal is a detailed account of his “commando” or unit (regiment) during the war with death, sickness and treachery of the British forces. The book will interest those who would want to know about the second Boer War, the life of a private in the army and how the British finally prevailed.

Whitebeard

Reading this book was a bit of an ordeal. There's nothing exciting, beautiful, or astounding about the story. Rather than that, it's a slow, foot-slogging, and seemingly pointless account of one youth's trek through a war. And that war had, as far as can be determined by this book, no redeeming value that made it's prosecution of any value. Nevertheless, it's worth the trouble and effort to get it under your belt, particularly if you happen to be a young man facing service in a war called for by others but for reasons you don't understand. The fear, deprivation, euphoria and guilt, sorrow, killing . . . these things are present and must be dealt with in any conflict.

Vosho

An amazing story told in a dispassionate way that re-enforces the tragedy for all those involved, British or Boer.There is plenty here for the student of South African history but it can stand alone as an adventure story based on fact although you have to wonder how he can remember how everything happened in such detail. Perhaps there is poetic licence in the writing but he tells the story as well as any Frederick Forsyth or Robert Harris.
The reader instinctively hostile to the Boers' cause will find sections to support that position but equally will find reasons to feel sympathy for the Boer who was fighting for his homeland against a global military power and the writer who was fighting to survive in a nasty little war.
I would have given five stars but the book lacks photos and maps.

.If ever there was a book that cried out to be made into a film this is it.

deadly claw

I'm not much of a history buff and I don't think I've ever managed to get through a memoir of any war until I read this book. It is exceptional.The Boer War in South Africa had always been a mystery to me--but no longer--thanks to a young (20-ish) former soldier who wrote the book right after the war was over and he was exiled in Madagascar. It is a war seen from the ground up in an era when fighting on horseback was still the norm.
I would definitely recommend this.