Anglo-Boer War

COMMANDO COURAGEOUS & THE BOER WAR DIARY OF SOL T. PLAATJE

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1. COMMANDO COURAGEOUS - A Boer's Diary

Roland Schikkerling's memoir of life on Commando during the Anglo-Boer War. Published by Hugh Keartland, Johannesburg, 1964. First edition.

Publisher's hardcover binding with illustrated dust jacket.

396pp. Frontispiece portrait of the author on Commando, age 22.

Binding solid. Corners sharp. Foxing on a first few pages and on page ends. Jacket has age-associated edge wear.

A good copy of this classic Boer War memoir.

'It is not often that a publisher comes across a manuscript of this kind. A war diary can often be a dull uninspiring record of events, some of which have already been told and often of many others which tend to become monotonous in the extreme.

Commando Courageous is, we believe, a book far and away above all personal records of the Boer War that have gone before.

The reader will quickly become aware of the tremendous courage of the author which at times borders on the fantastic and he and his fellow Commandos display repeatedly the inborn strength of purpose which can only come from people utterly convinced of the rightful purpose of their own particular passage of arms.

Quite apart from the masterful display off sheer courage and endurance R. W. Schikkerling tells his story of privations and tragic occurrences with an inexhaustible sense of humour and with a pen at once scholarly and poetic. Written some fifty years ago this soldier's story is as fresh and exhilarating as if the reader were on the field of battle to share the day's fortunes of war. All the great figures of the period are here and many personal anecdotes are recounted for posterity. We are fortunate indeed to have had the opportunity to publish this great book.' - editor's note 

2. THE BOER WAR DIARY OF SOL T. PLAATJE - An African at Mafeking

165 pages, frontispiece, 11 full page illustrations, map plans as end papers, black cloth titled gilt on the spine, the dust jacket has edge wear, a good copy. Printed by MacMillan, Johannesburg, 1973.

The handwritten "Boer War" diary of Solomon Tshekisho Plaatje (1876-1932), interpreter, journalist, author and politician, has been scanned into a digital archive at Wits University, after the original 180 page document was restored and rebound last year.

The diary, which was donated to Wits by John Comaroff, who discovered it and used it as the source of his seminal work The Boer War Diary of Sol T Plaatje, was written during the Siege of Mafikeng, and is the only known surviving document written by an African who witnessed the battle.

The diary, contained in a leather scrap book, was given to him by Sol Plaatje’s grandson Barolong Molema, the child of his daughter Violet, whilst doing doctoral research in 1969 in the district of Mafikeng.

http://bookslive.co.za/blog/2011/03/29/sol-plaatjes-original-handwritten-boer-war-diary

  • Name: Mantis Books
  • Contact Person: Charl Yates
  • Country: South Africa
  • Email: [email protected]
  • Telephone: 0833219905
  • Preferred Payment Methods: EFT & Paypal
  • Trade Associations: AA Approved


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