The War Reporter: The Anglo-Boer War through the eyes of the burghers - J.E.H. Grobler

When the might of the British Empire was turned against the Boer Republics in Southern Africa in 1899–1902, much of the rest of the world rooted secretly for the gallant underdogs—but since the bitter resolution of the Anglo-Boer War, history has conspired to tell its story from the British point of view.

This is a history book with a difference.

The War Reporter takes an imaginative leap to reconstruct the world of, up to the outset of the last century, the proud South African freedom fighters of the twentieth century. Here, in newspaper format as it might have been, is the story of the 'English War' told by the Boers: by officers directing their troops on the battlefields of Magersfontein, Colenso and Spioenkop; by 'Bitter-einder' burghers on commando; men laying endless siege to Mafeking and Ladysmith; women and children in concentration camps; the government in exile and many other participants, all in a wealth of contemporary sources and photographs.

One of the most formidable challenges that face historians is to understand the zeitgeist or atmosphere of the period they write about. This same is true for readers of history books. A failure to understand the situation at the time makes it virtually impossible to understand the major events, the decisions taken by the major participants, the reactions of the ordinary people and the contradictions of the past in the context in which they occurred. This was the author's biggest challenge as he attempted to portray the world and the views of the Boers as the Anglo-Boer War progressed. The book is first and foremost an attempt to answer the question, 'What did the Boers experience in the Anglo-Boer War?' The War Reporter sets out to illuminate the opposing perceptions of the Boer society on specific war issues in the wider sense of the word. Not only military confrontations are reported on, but also life on commando, the experiences of prisoners of war in camps scattered across the globe, the activities of Boer delegates abroad whose mission it was to bring about foreign intervention on the Boer side, the activities of prominent individuals, such as President Paul Kruger and Emily Hobhouse, and the dismal fate of the women and children in the concentration camps. The reports cover Boer views on issues as diverse as the morality of propaganda; the 'treachery' of so-called joiners; the execution of traitors, of Cape Rebels and of Boer officers; British scorched earth tactics; the involvement of blacks in the war; the Boer treatment of British soldiers and officers captured by them; the Boer longing for peace and the impact of the war on Boer religion.