MY REMINISCENCES OF EAST AFRICA;

335 pages: illustrations, portrait as frontispiece, maps. Cloth with gilding, dust wrapper.

A neat, clean copy. Originally published in 1920. Cover sub-title: The campaign for East Africa in World War I.    

Von Lettow-Vorbeck and 3000 German troops and 11 000 Askaris held out against over 100 000 Allied troops and returned an undefeated hero to Germany in 1918. He took part in politics between the wars, and held a conservative line, but was never a Nazi. The war in East Africa is studied for both the tactics used and for the manner in which it was fought. His tiny army tied down thousands of British, Indian and South African troops sent to trap him. Again and again Lettow evaded his pursuers. He used all the tricks in the guerilla handbook to lead the dogged Allies a merry dance across the harsh East African jungle, river and mountain terrain, and along the region's rivers and railways. Forced by superior numbers into neighbouring Kenya, Mozambique and Rhodesia, Lettow inflicted severe losses on the enemy along the way. His opponent for much of the campaign was an equally famous name in the annals of guerilla warfare: Jan Smuts. However, Lettow proved more than a match for his Boer opposite number. Living off the land, resourcefully using such windfalls as the guns of the stricken German cruiser Konigsberg, and even extracting fat from hippos and elephants, the 1918 Armistice found his depleted force still in the field and undefeated. In four years his exploits had become legendary. In 1929 he was guest of honour at the annual British East African Expeditionary Force's annual dinner!