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This is the first general history of the concentration camps of the Anglo-Boer or South African War in over fifty years, and the first to use in depth the very rich and extensive official documents in South African and British archives. It provides a fresh perspective on a topic that has understandably aroused huge emotions because of the great numbers of Afrikaners, especially women and children, who died in the camps. This fascinating social history overturns many of the previously held assumptions and conclusions on all sides, and is sure to stimulate debate. Rather than viewing the camps simply as the product of the scorched-earth policies of the war, the author sets them in the larger context of colonialism at the end of the 19th century, arguing that British views on poverty, poor relief and the management of colonial societies all shaped their administration. The book also attempts to explain why the camps were so badly administered in the first place, and why reform was so slow, suggesting that divided responsibility, ignorance, political opportunism and a failure to understand the needs of such institutions all played their part.
During the Anglo-Boer War, the conflict between the British and the Boers spilled over from the battlefield to the farmsteads of the Orange Free State and the Transvaal. The internment of women and children in concentration camps was part of a total war waged by the British Empire not only against the republican forces, but also civilians. The War at Home explores the causes and the character of these tragic wartime experiences.
"The Tale of a Field Hospital" by Frederick Treves offers a gripping and emotionally charged account of the experiences and challenges faced by medical personnel in a field hospital. Drawing from his own experiences as a surgeon, Treves brings authenticity and vividness to this narrative, providing readers with a profound understanding of the physical and emotional toll of war. Through poignant anecdotes and heartfelt reflections, Treves offers a compelling glimpse into the sacrifices, courage, and compassion exhibited by those on the frontlines of healthcare during times of conflict.
Stirring language and appeals to collective action were integral to the battles fought to defend empires and to destroy them. These wars of words used rhetoric to make their case. That rhetoric is the subject of this collection of essays exploring the arguments fought over empire in a wide variety of geographic, political, social and cultural contexts. Why did imperialist language remain so pervasive in Britain, France and elsewhere throughout much of the twentieth century? What rhetorical devices did political leaders, administrators, investors and lobbyists use to justify colonial domination before domestic and foreign audiences? How far did their colonial opponents mobilize a different rhetoric of rights and freedoms to challenge them? These questions are at the heart of this collection. Essays range from Theodore Roosevelt's articulation of American imperialism in the early 1900s to the rhetorical battles surrounding European decolonization in the late twentieth century.
This collection of essays by some of South Africa's foremost HIV/AIDS writers, doctors and activists takes us down the rabbit hole of AIDS denialism. It is a lively reconstruction of one of the most bewildering events of post-apartheid South Africa, when the democratic government questioned the link between HIV and AIDS and disputed the efficacy of antiretroviral drugs. During this period, thousands of people died unnecessarily as their treatment became the subject of intellectual debate by politicians.
This history of the poor of Sub-Saharan Africa begins in the monasteries of thirteenth-century Ethiopia and ends in the South African resettlement sites of the 1980s. Its thesis, derived from histories of poverty in Europe, is that most very poor Africans have been individuals incapacitated for labour, bereft of support, and unable to fend for themselves in a land-rich economy. There has emerged the distinct poverty of those excluded from access to productive resources. Natural disaster brought widespread destitution, but as a cause of mass mortality it was almost eliminated in the colonial era, to return to those areas where drought has been compounded by administrative breakdown. Professor...
Sheds new light on Native Life appearing at a critical historical juncture, and reflects on how to read it in South Africa’s heightened challenges today. First published in 1916, Sol Plaatje's Native Life in South Africa was written by one of the South Africa's most talented early twentieth-century black leaders and journalists. Plaatje's pioneering book arose out of an early African National Congress campaign to protest against the discriminatory 1913 Natives Land Act. Native Life vividly narrates Plaatje's investigative journeying into South Africa's rural heartlands to report on the effects of the Act and his involvement in the deputation to the British imperial government. At the same ...
"In 1890s London, the upper class Emily Hobhouse hears that women and children caught in the Boer War are having a difficult time. Concerned, she goes to South Africa ... to investigate and assist. ... [W]hat she finds is disturbing. The British Army is clearing the land and herding hundreds of thousands of people into concentration camps where the conditions are putting their lives at risk. She urges the local authorities to provide better care and support - to no avail. Deeply concerned, she returns to Britain to plead that immediate action be taken. ... She is received with studied indifference by the government and is attacked in the press. Eventually her work saves many lives, but not before tens of thousands have died. ... Though she focussed on a humanitarian cause, her heroic mission could unwittingly have brought down the British government, and her story was smothered. In this book her courageous and inspirational work is once again brought to life."--Back cover.