The Boers of South Africa responded to Britain's annexation of the gold-and-diamond-rich Transvaal region by declaring war on October 11, 1899. The English believed the fighting would be over by Christmas-never dreaming they were on the brink of one of the longest, bloodiest, most costly and humiliating military campaigns in their history. Mammoth in scope and scholarship, as vivid, fast-moving and breathtakingly compelling as the finest fiction, Thomas Pakenham's "The Boer War" is the definitive account of this extraordinary conflict-a war precipitated by greed and marked by almost inconceivable blundering and brutalities...and whose shattering repercussions can be felt to this very day.

Includes index.

Historical note / Introduction / Prologue: Rhodes's 'big idea'-Pitsani Camp (Bechuanaland border), Mafeking (Cape Colony border) and Transvaal, 29 December 1895-2 January 1896 / Part I. Milner's War. Out of the abyss: SS Scot and South Africa, 18 November 1898 and before -- Nods and winks: London, 22 November-December 1898 -- Champagne for the Volk: Pretoria, 23-29 December 1898 -- 'Voetsak': Johannesburg, 23 December 1898-28 March 1899 -- 'Working up steam': Cape Town, 31 March-9 May 1899 -- 'It is our country you want': the Orange Free State, 30 May-6 June 1899 -- Milner's three questions: Pall Mall, London, 8 June-19 July 1899 -- Preparing for a small war: Cape town, London and Natal, 20 June-7 October 1899 -- The ultimatum: Pretoria and the Transvaal, 1-12 October 1899 -- Bursting the mold: Cape Town and Ladysmith, 14-20 October 1899 / Part II. Buller's reverse. Taking tea with the Boers: Dundee, North Natal, 20 October 1899 -- White flag, Arme Blanche: Elandslaagte, near Ladysmith, Natal, 21 October 1899 -- The knock-down blow: Dundee and Ladysmith, 22 October -2 November 1899 -- The whale and the fish: SS Dunottar Castle and the Cape, 14 October-26 November 1899 -- Botha's raid: South Natal, 9-13 November 1899 -- The lights of Kimberley: the western frontier, Cape Colony, 20-28 November 1899 -- Breakfast at the island: Modder and Riet rivers, Cape Colony, 28 November-10 December 1899 -- Marching up in column: Magersfontein, 9-12 December 1899 -- 'Where are the Boers>': Tugela River, near Ladysmith, 11-15 December 1899 -- 'A devil of a mess': Colenso, Natal, 15 December 1899 -- Black week, silver lining: British Isles, 16 December 1899-1 February 1900 -- Christmas at Pretoria: Pretoria, 12 December 1899-1 January 1900 -- 'Are we rotters or heroes?': Ladysmith, 2 November 1899-6 January 1900 -- The Tugela line: Natal, 6-24 January 1900 -- An acre of massacre: Spion Kop, Natal, 24-25 January 1900 / Part III. Roberts's Advance. The steam-roller: the western front, Sunday, 11 February-Thursday, 15 February 1900 -- The siege within the siege: Kimberley, 9-17 February 1900 -- Gone to earth: Paardeberg, 17-27 February 1900 -- The key turns: the Tugela Line and Ladysmith, 12-28 February 1900 -- The handshake: across the Tugela, 27 February-15 March 1900 -- The plague of Bloemfontein: the Orange Free State, 13-28 March 1900 -- 'Keeping De Wet from defeat': northern and eastern free state, 17 March-April 1900 -- 'The white man's war': Mafeking (Cape Colony border), 13 April-May 1900 -- Across the Vaal: the Orange River Colony and Transvaal: 31 May-June 1900 'Practically over': the ex-republics, 8 July-December 1900 / Part IV. Kitchener's peace. A muddy election: London, Autumn 1900 -- The worm turns: South Africa, 30 October-16 December 1900 -- Disregarding the screamers: Cape Town and beyond, 17 December 1900-28 May 1901 -- 'When is a war not a war?': London and South Africa, 1901 -- Raiding the colonies: Cape Colony and Natal, 3 September-December 1901 -- Blockhouse or blockhead?: the new colonies, November 1901-March 1902 -- Peace 'betrayed': Pretoria, 11 April-June 1902 / Epilogue: 'winners and losers' / Important dates before and during the Boer War.