by Greg Cuthbertson
contributions by Albert Grundlingh and Mary-Lynn Suttie
edited by Greg Cuthbertson, Albert Grundlingh and Mary-Lynn Suttie
Ohio University Press, 2002
Paper: 978-0-8214-1463-7 | Cloth: 978-0-8214-1462-0 | eISBN: 978-0-8214-4191-6
Library of Congress Classification DT1896.W74 2002
Dewey Decimal Classification 968.048

ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | TOC
ABOUT THIS BOOK

A century after the South African War (1899-1902), historians are beginning to reevaluate the accepted wisdom regarding the scope of the war, its participants, and its impact. Writing a Wider War charts some of the changing historical constructions of the memorialization of suffering during the war.

Writing a Wider War presents a dramatically new interpretation of the role of Boer women in the conflict and profoundly changes how we look at the making of Afrikaner nationalism. African experiences of the war are also examined, highlighting racial subjugation in the context of colonial war and black participation, and showcasing important new research by African historians.

The collection includes a reassessment of British imperialism and probing essays on J. A. Hobson; the masculinist nature of life on commando among Boer soldiers; Anglo-Jewry; secularism; health and medicine; nursing, women, and disease in the concentration camps; and the rivalry between British politicians and generals. An examination of the importance of the South African War in contemporary British political economy, and the part played by imperial propaganda, rounds off a thoroughly groundbreaking reinterpretation of this formative event in South Africa's history.