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The Boer War
- Narrated by: James Langton
- Length: 19 hrs and 21 mins
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The Boer War
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Summary
The Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902) is one of the most intriguing conflicts of modern history. It has been labeled many things: the first media war, a precursor of the First and Second World Wars, the originator of apartheid. The difference in status and resources between the superpower Great Britain and two insignificant Boer republics in southern Africa was enormous. But, against all expectation, it took the British every effort and a huge sum of money to win the war, not least by unleashing a campaign of systematic terror against the civilian population.
In The Boer War, winner of the Netherland's 2013 Libris History Prize and shortlisted for the 2013 AKO Literature Prize, the author brings a completely new perspective to this chapter of South African history, critically examining the involvement of the Netherlands in the war. Furthermore, unlike other accounts, Martin Bossenbroek explores the war primarily through the experiences of three men uniquely active during the bloody conflict. They are Willem Leyds, the Dutch lawyer who was to become South African Republic state secretary and eventual European envoy; Winston Churchill, then a British war reporter; and Deneys Reitz, a young Boer commando. The vivid and engaging experiences of these three men enables a more personal and nuanced story of the war to be told, and, at the same time, offers a fresh approach to a conflict that shaped the nation-state of South Africa.
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What listeners say about The Boer War
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Peter O'Bree
- 08-07-22
loved this book
forgive the pronunciation of the Afrikaans names and places. this is a great story about some great men and some interesting warfare. I visited spionkop after this book a bizarre battlefield where the course of history could easily have been changed.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- John Birch
- 13-05-24
A very entertaining and interesting history
I got this because it was free and I like the narrator. Wanting to know a bit more about a war a couple of my ancestors fought in was a useful extra.
But I have been surprised how well written it is. Some war histories can be dull and without easy access to maps, illustrations, etc., hard to follow. Not this one. It clearly uses several biographies from the war - most notably Winston Churchill's - but ot weaves them together superbly, and gives what appears to be a very balanced story seen from all sides.
I really cannot recommend it enough, and James Langton is a terrific narrator!
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Graham
- 11-04-18
Pronounceattion
This lovely series is spoilt by the very pronunciation of local names and place names.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mr. P. O'hara
- 06-11-24
Wonderfully engaging.
Much better than expected. A vividly well written & delightfully narrated general history of the war & cultural context.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Sketch
- 29-08-19
A very detailed history of a complex war
Phew! Quite a lengthy book and a lot to take in. But well narrated and a lot of detail. At times it was a bit tedious with what I thought was unnecessary detail. It also illustrated the arrogance of the British political philosophy at that time in our history. Also the way in which it led to apartheid and the cruelty that was imposed by the Dutch / Afrikaans. Not a time in history that any one involved should be proud off.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Conor
- 09-10-18
Well Structured and Well Read
Great book all round. Would recommend to anyone. All the different parts come together nicely.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- R N BLAIR
- 30-06-18
The Boer War,
The book is undoubtedly an authentic account of The Boer War. It is nevertheless marred by the narrators inability to pronounce many of the names and places correctly. For example the Union Castle liner
Dunnotter Castle is pronounced as spelled. It is not the Dooneter Castle. Similarly Smuts is Smuts, not Smoots or Smoets. The Toogela River, as pronounced by Langton,is normally known as the Tugela with the stress on the penultimate syllable.
There are many other example of poor knowledge in pronouncing names and places although it must be said that knowledge of the Dutch and Afrikaans names was generally up to the mark. Such a pity as this audio version did not serve the book well.
Finally. No such place as Lourenco Markeesh or Lourenco Marceish or even Lourenco Mar-qiche has ever existed - either in Portuguese or English.
Neil Blair.
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 06-01-19
Wirklich sehr interessant.
Der Sprecher ist klar und die Geschichte informative. Dieses Buch ist wahrscheinlich die Beste, dass den Krieg zwischen den Buren und Großbritannien erklärt.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- J. W. Van Bergh
- 29-04-22
pronounce the boer names properly
The history was excellent,however the pronunciations of the Boernames left little to the imagination as did some of the place names and African tribal leaders. Pity for an otherwise enjoyable trip through History.
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1 person found this helpful