1899: The Long March Home – A Little-known Incident in the Anglo-Boer War Author: Elsabé Brink
1899: The Long March Home – A Little-known Incident in the Anglo-Boer War (Collectible First Edition)
The Historical and Groundbreaking Account of 7,000 Zulu Migrant Workers and Their Epic 300-Mile Exodus from the Witwatersrand to Natal
Bibliographic Specifications
- Title: 1899: The Long March Home – A Little-known Incident in the Anglo-Boer War
- Author: Elsabé Brink
- Publisher: Kwela Books, Cape Town
- Publication Date: 1999 (First Edition Printing / Centenary Release)
- ISBN-10: 079570089X
- ISBN-13: 9780795700897
- Edition Details: First Edition, First Printing (Softcover). Released to coincide with the official centenary anniversary of the march.
- Binding: Original publisher's premium heavy-gauge gloss illustrated card wrappers with an uncreased spine (Softcover as issued).
- Physical Format: Slim Octavo (8vo), 111 pages. Enriched with archival photographs, primary source document facsimiles, mapped migration routes, and extensive reference appendices.
- Language: English
Official Condition Report
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The Book: Very Good Plus (VG+)
o Exterior / Wraps: The original illustrated picture card wrappers are exceptionally flat, square, and well-preserved. The card surfaces retain their full gloss finish and color contrast, displaying only trivial, microscopic shelf friction at the extreme corner tips. The spine is completely crisp, straight, uncreased, and unbroken, showing excellent structure.
o Interior: The internal text block is immaculate and tightly bound. The pages, map outlines, and historical photographs are crisp, clean, and bright. The volume is completely free of text underlining, highlights, dog-ears, library stamps, or previous owner inscriptions. - The Dust Jacket: Not Applicable (As Issued in Premium Card Wrappers)
Synopsis & Historical Value
Published in 1999 to mark the centenary of a remarkable historical event, 1899: The Long March Home is a groundbreaking, deeply moving historical piece that addresses a significant gap in traditional South African military history. In October 1899, on the immediate eve of the Anglo-Boer War, thousands of black migrant workers on the Witwatersrand goldfields found themselves stranded, jobless, and facing entrapment between massing Boer commandos and British forces. Led by the intrepid John S. Marwick, a young employee of the Natal Department of Native Affairs, a massive column of over 7,000 Zulu laborers embarked on an epic 300-mile march from Johannesburg back to the borders of Natal.
Published in 1999 to mark the centenary of a remarkable historical event, 1899: The Long March Home is a groundbreaking, deeply moving historical piece that addresses a significant gap in traditional South African military history. In October 1899, on the immediate eve of the Anglo-Boer War, thousands of black migrant workers on the Witwatersrand goldfields found themselves stranded, jobless, and facing entrapment between massing Boer commandos and British forces. Led by the intrepid John S. Marwick, a young employee of the Natal Department of Native Affairs, a massive column of over 7,000 Zulu laborers embarked on an epic 300-mile march from Johannesburg back to the borders of Natal.
Elsabé Brink draws heavily from her specialized academic research and primary archives to recreate this extraordinary journey. The narrative tracks their grueling week-long march through the heart of the Transvaal, navigating intense heat, cold downpours, a lack of provisions, and deep operational suspicion from local Boer commandants. Long overshadowed by traditional military histories, this volume rescues an vital act of human endurance from relative obscurity. It serves as a foundational reference piece for advanced students of social history, black labor migration patterns, and unique primary narratives of the Anglo-Boer War.
Author Profile: Elsabé Brink
Elsabé Brink was a highly distinguished South African cultural historian, biographer, and dedicated researcher celebrated for uncovering forgotten social histories of Johannesburg and Gauteng. Educated at academic institutions where she completed landmark historical treatises—including extensive studies on working-class movements and the experiences of women in the Garment Workers' Union—Brink focused her career on returning erased human voices to the historical record. Her academic precision and accessible narrative prose style established her as an authority on regional 19th and 20th-century heritage preservation.
Elsabé Brink was a highly distinguished South African cultural historian, biographer, and dedicated researcher celebrated for uncovering forgotten social histories of Johannesburg and Gauteng. Educated at academic institutions where she completed landmark historical treatises—including extensive studies on working-class movements and the experiences of women in the Garment Workers' Union—Brink focused her career on returning erased human voices to the historical record. Her academic precision and accessible narrative prose style established her as an authority on regional 19th and 20th-century heritage preservation.
boer war collectible book elsabe brink long march home 1899 kwela books first edition 1999 rare book anglo boer war migrant workers zulu history js marwick labor history witwatersrand exodus used copy pictorial wraps social history