Rating: 
Summary: Wonderfully written a book that is intensely interesting.
Review: One of the final wars of British imperialism, it could be labeled the first "modern" war. Thomas Parkenham does a wonderful job describing the genesis to the unfortunate end of a war that went from a being a bloody slugfest between conventional armies to a guerilla war boarding on a civil war. If you want to understand how a nation can win a war yet lose the peace, here is the story of how Britain "won" two colonies and in reality gave the Boers two of their own in the end. A terrific book recommended for anyone with any remote interest in South African history or the British in Africa. I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: An Unbiased, All-Encompassing account
Review: Pakenham does an excellent job in outlining the origins of this classic colonial 'empire building' conflict. From the political climate of the antagonists to the battlefields he has made an historical non-fiction book as good as any fiction I have encountered. Not taking anything away from his skill, but with the material that history has provided us this feat is hardly a stretch. Detailed battle accounts are included from the grand tactical to eyewitness and first person accounts, with some photos and maps. A great primer on the conflict, and a must for students of the period, place, or conflict itself.
Rating:
Summary: A really excellent account
Review: Pakenham has some different views, and makes a pretty good case for them. For instance, he says Buller was an able and good general, and that Roberts and Kitchener could hardly do anything right! This was great reading.
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Summary: Extensive history of the British side of the Boer War
Review: Pakenham's exploration of the Boer War is dense and exhaustive, but ultimately readable. It traces the follies, bloodshed, and innovations that surrounded the war that began with the British annexation of the Transvaal region. Goes through the major battles and politics in close detail, but is lacking most sense of the Dutch/Boer perspective on the war. I would like to have seen more about the concentration camps from the Boer side and it would have been interesting to have more coverage of the European (particularly Dutch) response to the British actions.
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Summary: A real classic
Review: South African illustrated edition. Bought on the Jan Smuts Airport in Johannesburg, and I spent most of the trip home to Norway reading. Flights are boring so I always try to read something and this book made me enjoy the flight. Well written. Not extensively illustrated but sufficient - and adequat maps of the main battles. Describes especially the foreplay of the war in an excellent manner.
Rating:
Summary: Eerie parallels to Vietnam
Review: There is much to commend about Thomas Pakenham's history of the Boer War. The nature and origins of the conflict are cogently presented. He describes the main actors in the tale ' Alfred Milner, Cecil Rhodes, Paul Kruger, Jan Smuts, etc. ' with a dramatic flair that greatly adds to the readability of the book and turns the history of the conflict into a clash of personalities as much as a clash of empire. The author also does a superb job putting the events of the Boer War in the context of the Victorian Age and the last days of Splendid Isolation of the British Empire. Finally, the book has a number of detailed, but easy to follow maps that greatly enhance the readers ability to follow and digest the narrative (those who frequently read military history understand that this isn't a trivial point).Ironically, however, the thing that struck me the most about this book was something the author never commented on at all: the remarkable historical parallels between the Boer War and the US war in Vietnam sixty-five years later. In light of salient differences in the conflicts (time, place, technology, people, the outcome -- the British 'won'-- etc.), the wars followed a similar trajectory and the British and American forces developed similar responses to similar challenges. To begin with, the British and American forces suffered from a significant handicap in intelligence collection and mobility, a disadvantage neither side was ever able to overcome. Second, both the British and Americans deployed massive amounts of troops to the theater, but only a small fraction were ever able to engage the enemy, creating an extremely long and cumbersome 'tail' with precious few 'teeth.' Third, the inability to effectively hold territory or engage the enemy in open battle deprived the British and Americans of traditional battlefield metrics, and ultimately led to the use of enemy 'body count' (Kitchener called it 'the bag' but it was the same idea in principle) as the ineffective but de facto measurement of success. Fourth, the challenge of keeping the civilian population separated from the marauding guerillas led the British and Americans to the same response, including locking local populations up in protected communities (called 'laagers' in South Africa and 'hamlets' in Vietnam) and the creation of a protective fence to prevent the enemy from penetrating territory ostensibly held by local forces. Fifth, attempts to fight the enemy on even terms led both the British and Americans to develop their own version of guerillas to fight along side friendly locals (the carbineers in South Africa ' including the famous Breaker Morant ' and the Marine Corps' Ruff-Puffs in Vietnam). Finally, the British and American war efforts were gravely undermined by massive public unrest against the war on the home front. For those with a keen interest in military history in general or colonial/anti-insurgency campaigns in particular, this book is not to be missed.
Rating:
Summary: Eerie parallels to Vietnam
Review: There is much to commend about Thomas Pakenham�s history of the Boer War. The nature and origins of the conflict are cogently presented. He describes the main actors in the tale � Alfred Milner, Cecil Rhodes, Paul Kruger, Jan Smuts, etc. � with a dramatic flair that greatly adds to the readability of the book and turns the history of the conflict into a clash of personalities as much as a clash of empire. The author also does a superb job putting the events of the Boer War in the context of the Victorian Age and the last days of Splendid Isolation of the British Empire. Finally, the book has a number of detailed, but easy to follow maps that greatly enhance the readers ability to follow and digest the narrative (those who frequently read military history understand that this isn�t a trivial point). Ironically, however, the thing that struck me the most about this book was something the author never commented on at all: the remarkable historical parallels between the Boer War and the US war in Vietnam sixty-five years later. In light of salient differences in the conflicts (time, place, technology, people, the outcome -- the British �won�-- etc.), the wars followed a similar trajectory and the British and American forces developed similar responses to similar challenges. To begin with, the British and American forces suffered from a significant handicap in intelligence collection and mobility, a disadvantage neither side was ever able to overcome. Second, both the British and Americans deployed massive amounts of troops to the theater, but only a small fraction were ever able to engage the enemy, creating an extremely long and cumbersome �tail� with precious few �teeth.� Third, the inability to effectively hold territory or engage the enemy in open battle deprived the British and Americans of traditional battlefield metrics, and ultimately led to the use of enemy �body count� (Kitchener called it �the bag� but it was the same idea in principle) as the ineffective but de facto measurement of success. Fourth, the challenge of keeping the civilian population separated from the marauding guerillas led the British and Americans to the same response, including locking local populations up in protected communities (called �laagers� in South Africa and �hamlets� in Vietnam) and the creation of a protective fence to prevent the enemy from penetrating territory ostensibly held by local forces. Fifth, attempts to fight the enemy on even terms led both the British and Americans to develop their own version of guerillas to fight along side friendly locals (the carbineers in South Africa � including the famous Breaker Morant � and the Marine Corps� Ruff-Puffs in Vietnam). Finally, the British and American war efforts were gravely undermined by massive public unrest against the war on the home front. For those with a keen interest in military history in general or colonial/anti-insurgency campaigns in particular, this book is not to be missed.
Rating: 
Summary: The Boer War: Origins and Consequences
Review: This book does a fine job of explaining the origins of Dutch resentment of the British in South Africa, how the bullying of the British led to the tragedy that was the Boer War, and how England's desire for reconciliation following the war led to the state-sponsored discrimination instituted by the Afrikaners that would have disastrous effects for South Africa throughout the 20th century.
Rating:
Summary: more of a war story than a narration of history
Review: This book reads more like a fiction novel with well developed characters and an incredible plot. I enjoyed Parkenhams obvious opinions (although I didnt always agree with them) and his wonderful writing style. I found the book difficult to stop reading and enjoyed it far more than I thought I would
Rating:
Summary: Among the best histories I've read
Review: This is a pet subject for me, so I've digested lots of material on the Boer War. Pakenham's work still, after 30+ years, stands the test of time as one of the most exhaustive and definitive works on the Boer War. Some of the reviews are pointing out the lack of Boer input in Pakenham's research. Much of this was done for two reasons (1) Outside of selected scholarly works in Afrikaans utilized by Pakenham, much of Boer literature on the subject has been twisted into legend, lore and folktales that skew from original events. (2) The two main Boer generals to emerge as South African statesmen after the war, Louis Botha and Jan Smuts, became in many ways more British than Boer. A champion of the empire and internationalism, Smuts wrote the preamble to the UN Charter and opposed the National Party that imposed apartheid two years before his death. All in all, this work is a great overall look at the conflict. Definitely look at his bibliography to delve further.
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