(London: Harmsworth Brothers, Ltd., 1900).

HANDSOME FIRST EDITION. The South African war was notable for many reasons, not the least of which was the fact that it was  the first great struggle fought out under new conditions which smokeless powder had introduced. No invention has made a greater change in the art of war than this revolution, so profound that it can only be compared with that brought about by the general adoption of firearms four hundred years (before). In the early stages of the war, the British were met with resistance and defeat at the hands of the Boers who then as now had an absolute knowledge of the country and its terrain.
Almost as in the American Revolution, British troups were met by an adversary secreted in the geography and whose arms and artillery were scattered and placed in an order completely alien to the normative battlefield strategy of the times. On many levels, the British were greeted with an array of new experiences on the battlefields. These books portray these experiences and the building of the realities that would beset South Africa for over a century. A quite remarkable set of books in excellent condition. Item #30755

2 volumes. First edition. Profusely illustrated throughout,  from photographs and authentic sketches taken in South Africa , with two very large folding maps and a number of charts and plans. 4to, bound in publisher s best bindings of three-quarter red morocco over pebbled red cloth, gilt lettered on the upper covers with gilt rules on the corners and margin. The spines very handsomely decorated with gilt ruled and tooled compartments between raised bands, gilt lettering in two compartments, marbled end-leaves, a.e.g. viii, 364; viii, 365-716, index. An unusually handsome, fine and bright set.