LONDON TO LADYSMITH VIA PRETORIA

xiv, 498 pages: maps (some folding, 2 laid down on front & rear free endpapers). Pictorial cloth, dust wrapper with spotting. Facsimile reprint of the 1900 edition.

Churchill was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1953. He wrote 73 books during his lifetime; and for long periods when in (often self-induced) political isolation, supported his family by means of his pen. LONDON TO LADYSMITH was his fourth book and established his reputation as a writer. His first, THE STORY OF THE MALAKAND FIELD FORCE (1898) and his second, THE RIVER WAR (1899) had both infuriated senior army figures. The Prime Minister publicly stated that MALAKAND... had given him more information about the campaign in Afghanistan than Wolseley's official reports! LONDON TO LADYSMITH was not as controversial and included his despatches from South Africa on his adventures, including his capture and escape. One of the best reads on the war.