RHODESIA & AFTER - Being the Story of the 17th & 18th Battalions of Imperial Yeomanry in South Africa (1901)

Publisher's cream cloth binding with titles in red on front panel and spine.

350pp. with forty-eight illustrations and three maps.

This copy lacks the tipped-in tissue-guarded portrait frontispiece of the author, only the facsimile signature of the author remains (all other plates and maps present).

Contents generally clean with a contemporary gift inscription on the verso of the front endpaper (front endpaper has a 3cm tear in the middle of the front page edge with no paper loss). Front and rear hinge cracked internally and some general age-associated wear on the boards.

'An account of the experiences of a battalion of Yeomanry during the South African War. The troops landed at Beira (the harbour being crowded with transports, many of the New Zealanders landing at the same time), and they subsequently proceeded to an unhealthy station called "Bamboo Creek," where many lives were lost from fever and malaria. After some stay at this place the Yeomanry went to Rhodesia, the author taking part in the expedition against Mapondera and his followers. After leaving Rhodesia, the writer shared in the campaigns against De Wet, Hertzog, Scheepers, and others, in the Cape Colony, and he narrates many entertaining stories of these sturdy guerilla chiefs, and gives an interesting account of Scheepers, by whom he was taken prisoner near the Camdeboo Hills. Escaping from the Boer leader, he reached the British camp after some adventures, and was present at the defence of Philipstown. The book is divided into three parts; the first being entitled "Rhodesia," the second "After," and the third, "The Stories of the Squadrons"; and these latter comprise, the Story of the 50th I.Y., the Story of the Irish Yeomanry, the Story of the 65th I.Y., and the Story of the Dunraven's Sharpshooters.' - Mendelssohn Vol.I, page 598