Publisher's blue cloth binding with Pretorius family crest in gilt on front panel.
x + 491pp + xvii (index). Illustrated. Text in Afrikaans.
Binding sound. Contents clean. A very good to near fine copy.
The scarce biography of the famous Voortrekker leader who defeated the might of the Zulu army at the Battle of Blood River. Pretoria, the administrative capital South Africa, was named after him.
The Battle of Blood River (1838) is one of the definitive moments in South African history. It has often been described as the Boer nation's Battle of Marathon, as a parallel in both conflicts can be seen where a minor force of fighting men beat overwhelming odds by inflicting a crushing defeat on the more numerous enemy. The Zulu King Dingane, determined to annihilate the Voortrekkers in Natal, sent his whole army of between 25,000 and 30,000 Zulu warriors to meet the Voortrekker force of 464 fighting men. Andries Pretorius ordered his men to form a laager (wagons linked together in a large circle serving as fortification) on the bank of the Ncome River. The laager proved impregnable as waves upon waves of Zulu warriors fell upon it, and around it. The river turned red from the blood of the fallen, hence the name.
- Binding Condition: Near Fine
- Overall Condition: Near Fine
