Mafeking, Colenso, Ladysmith and Spion Kop, battles won by the Boers against the might of the British Empire, still have a resonance a century on. The Great Boer War (1899-1902) pitted a sturdy, stubborn, hardy pioneer people against the arrogant self-confidence of Britain at the height of her power. It produced in almost equal measure extraordinary feats of personal heroism, unbelievable examples of folly and stupidity, and many incidents of humour and tragedy. It was the last romantic war. Byron Farwell's definitive account of this dramatic conflict explains the origin of the war, and covers the political developments, the bloody battles that the outnumbered Boers almost always won, the sieges, the concentration camps and the men -Kruger, Roberts, Botha, Buller, Smuts, Kitchener and de Wet.