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The Wedding Feast War
Keith Smith


Joined: 30 Aug 2005
Posts: 540
Location: Northern NSW, Australia
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Dear Members et al

With the kind indulgence of Alan, may I briefly announce publication (finally!) of my new book with the above title, which narrates the full details of the Ninth Cape Frontier War of 1877/78. It will be available at the end of the month from Brecon, and also from www.casus-belli.co.uk. The book retails at �39.00. It contains xvi+344 pages, five genealogical tables, seven maps, 16 colour photographs, extensive bibliography and a complete index.

If I might quote from the blurb on the dust jacket:

"This book serves as a �prequel� to the Anglo-Zulu War, which followed in 1879, some units and their officers fighting in both wars. Prominent among them was the 1st Battalion of the 24th (2nd Warwickshire) Regiment under its commanding officer Colonel Richard Thomas Glyn. His officers� names may also be familiar, among them Major Henry Burmester Pulleine, Captain Russell Upcher, Lieutenant Teignmouth Melvill and Lieutenant Nevill Coghill. Here we see these officers, many of whom would later fall at Isandlwana, in a new light.

"The 90th Regiment also arrived in South Africa during this time, bringing with it yet another Zulu War luminary, Brevet Colonel Evelyn Wood, V.C. Here too was to be found Brevet Major Redvers Buller, 60th Regiment (The King�s Royal Rifle Corps) soon to become the formidable warrior leading his beloved Frontier Light Horse.

"Among those who served during the war as leaders of the colonial African forces were such Zulu War figures as Rupert Lonsdale, who would later command the 3rd Regiment of the Natal Native Contingent (NNC) at Isandlwana, William Nettleton, future commandant of a Battalion of the NNC and Friedrich Schermbrucker, later to serve with Wood in Natal."

Thank you.

KIS
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Robin


Joined: 16 Jan 2007
Posts: 135
Location: Nottingham Road KZN RSA
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Hi Keith
Congratulations on another excellent publication
May i ask who the South African distributor will be and any chance of a signed copy
Regards
Robin
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Keith Smith


Joined: 30 Aug 2005
Posts: 540
Location: Northern NSW, Australia
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Robin

Please send me a private message.

KIS
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AMB


Joined: 07 Oct 2005
Posts: 921
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Keith,

Many congratulations on the publication of your latest book. I'll certainly be ordering it from Martin and the team at the Brecon shop.

AMB
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Martin Everett


Joined: 01 Sep 2005
Posts: 786
Location: Brecon
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Dear All,

I have put the details of Keith's new book on the museum shop website. I know that he spent many happy hours rummaging through the archives at Brecon as well as walking the ground where history was made in the Eastern Cape. Well done, Keith

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Martin Everett
Brecon, Powys
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Peter Ewart


Joined: 31 Aug 2005
Posts: 1797
Location: Near Canterbury, Kent, England.
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My copy has arrived and very impressive it is, too. Keith's scholarship is already well known (and is again obvious here) but because this work is also very readable it is going to fill a huge gap. And I'd forgotten we were to see 16 colour photos - a treat!

Congratulations, Keith.

Peter
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Damian


Joined: 12 Aug 2007
Posts: 105
Location: Pietermaritzburg KZN
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May I just ask, is it actually in stock at Brecon or still awaiting delivery?
I have ordered and paid for my copy but the email said it was not yet in stock. I am looking forward to getting hold of my copy.
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Martin Everett


Joined: 01 Sep 2005
Posts: 786
Location: Brecon
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Our stock of Keith's new book arrived this morning - any pre-orders will be sent out today.

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Martin Everett
Brecon, Powys
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Damian


Joined: 12 Aug 2007
Posts: 105
Location: Pietermaritzburg KZN
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Thanks very much.
Celia Green sent me an email saying it had been posted this morning.
I am looking forward to reading it.
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Peter Ewart


Joined: 31 Aug 2005
Posts: 1797
Location: Near Canterbury, Kent, England.
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Among the impressive coloured photos in Keith's new book, it is sad to see the grave of Maqoma looking (as far as I can see) in a less than perfect condition. I had read somewhere not long ago about problems with its condition and position, but given the fanfare accompanying the transfer of his remains from Robben Island to the mainland in 1978, one would imagine arrangements had been put in place to keep up its appearance in perpetuity. (That's assuming the correct remains were disinterred in the first place, but that's anothe story).

Is your photo recent , Keith?

Over the years, I have done some research on one of his many sons, a chap who came to Kent in the early 1860s before returning to SA and dying in 1865. He was sometimes referred to as Kona Maqoma over here, even if more usually Edward Dumisweni Maqoma, but as I believe Maqoma's son Kona lived later than that date the one that came here can't have been the Kona. Given that Maqoma also had a son called Ned, who is well documented, the scope for confusion with "my" Edward is not inconsiderable!

Peter
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Keith Smith


Joined: 30 Aug 2005
Posts: 540
Location: Northern NSW, Australia
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Hi Peter

The photograph is relatively recent, having been taken on my first visit to the Eastern Cape in 2007. The area where the grave is located was, at the time, called Hero's Acre by the local government of the apartheid 'homeland' of Ciskei. It sits atop an impressive plateau known as Ntaba kaNdoda not far from King William's Town.

There is a fort known as Fort Black (after Major Wilsone Black, (1/24th) built nearby which a friend has recently re-discovered. I intend to visit the fort in May this year, and will also check out Maqoma's grave. I'll let you know its present condition.

KIS
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Peter Ewart


Joined: 31 Aug 2005
Posts: 1797
Location: Near Canterbury, Kent, England.
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Thank you, Keith. I've read about Heroes Acre (or Hero's Acre, I'm never sure which) but there seem to be several in S Africa today. Your picture of Sandile's grave shows it is in much better nick than Maqoma's. The impressive memorial obviously helps.

I also like very much your photos of Boma Pass, the Kroome escarpment, the Waterkloof and Fuller's Hoek, all of which go a long way to illustrate and clarify the actions described in the text. It occurs to me that any one of the four could be compared closely with the landscape in parts of Zululand, so the 24th and their colonial comrades should, in some ways, have felt almost at home in Zululand a year later, even if the nature of the fighting differed.

Peter
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Martin Everett


Joined: 01 Sep 2005
Posts: 786
Location: Brecon
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Peter,

Also Heroes Acre in Pretoria - I was there in January - it is appropriately where Breaker Morant is buried.

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Martin Everett
Brecon, Powys
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The Wedding Feast War
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