The African campaigns of a notable Victorian soldierThere can be few students of the British Empire of the 19th century who are unfamiliar with the career of Evelyn Wood. In a time of outstanding military men, Wood was a national celebrity, for he fought with distinction in a number of conflicts in the Victorian Age from the Crimean War to the Indian Mutiny—where he won his Victoria Cross—and the Boer War and war in the Sudan at the turn of the century. Nevertheless, Wood arguably achieved his greatest fame during the 1870s when the British Army was engaged in sub-Saharan Africa in the wars against the Ashanti, Gaika (Kaffir) and Zulu tribal peoples. The Anglo-Zulu War is particularly fascinating to many aficionados of the history of the British Army and Evelyn Wood’s actions on Hlobane Mountain and at the battle at Kambula are covered in detail in this book. The action at Kambula is particularly noteworthy, in contrast to the debacle at Isandlwana, as a demonstration of the successful defence of a fortified British camp, in the face of overwhelming Zulu numerical superiority, when that action was commanded by a talented and determined officer. Wood wrote a substantial autobiography (his first-hand accounts of these engagements are essential) and was also the subject of a contemporary biography which, of course, covered his entire life including later periods when his career became administrative. This special Leonaur edition, concentrating on Evelyn Wood’s western and southe...