Battles of the Boer War Author: W. Baring Pemberton
Battles of the Boer War (Collectible First Edition Hardcover)
A Seminal and Masterly Military Review of the Pivotal Conflict That Shook the British Empire, Complete with Protected Original Dust Jacket
Bibliographic Specifications
- Title: Battles of the Boer War
- Author: W. Baring Pemberton
- Publisher: B. T. Batsford Ltd, London
- Publication Date: 1964
- ISBN-10: None Issued (Early Batsford British Battles Series)
- ISBN-13: None Issued (Early Batsford British Battles Series)
- Edition Details: First Edition, First Printing (Hardcover).
- Binding: Original publisher's premium dark fabric-cloth boards with a bright gold gilt-titled spine, complete with the original illustrated paper dust jacket.
- Physical Format: Octavo (8vo), 216 pages. Lavishly enhanced with an authoritative collection of 33 black-and-white photographic plates, contemporary drawings, and 10 detailed technical battlefield deployment maps.
- Language: English
Official Condition Report
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The Book: Very Good (VG)
o Exterior / Boards: The original fabric-bound boards remain remarkably square, rigid, and well-preserved. The corners are sharp with only negligible storage shelf friction along the bottom rims. The spine is completely straight and intact, featuring beautifully bright and reflective gold lettering.
o Interior: The internal text block is clean, structurally tight, and robustly bound. The pages, map plates, and photographic inserts are crisp and free of user highlighting, ink annotations, library stamps, or common dealer pencil markings.
o Provenance: An exceptionally clean and well-maintained copy that has been carefully looked after and preserved. -
The Dust Jacket: Very Good (VG)
o Condition: The original 1964 paper dust jacket remains highly presentable and historically intact, retaining its bold visual contrast and sharp typography with only limited, standard edge wear or minor shelf friction at the extremities. To permanently seal its market longevity and arrest any future handling wear, it has been freshly housed inside a brand-new, archival-grade clear plastic protective sleeve.
Synopsis & Historical Value
Published in 1964 as a headline addition to the highly prestigious Batsford British Battles Series, Battles of the Boer War is universally regarded as a foundational masterwork of objective military historiography. Author W. Baring Pemberton bypasses secondary myths to deliver a clinical, deeply researched tactical examination of the five major set-piece battles that defined the high-stakes conventional phase of the Anglo-Boer War: Modder River, Magersfontein, Colenso, Spion Kop, and Ladysmith.
Published in 1964 as a headline addition to the highly prestigious Batsford British Battles Series, Battles of the Boer War is universally regarded as a foundational masterwork of objective military historiography. Author W. Baring Pemberton bypasses secondary myths to deliver a clinical, deeply researched tactical examination of the five major set-piece battles that defined the high-stakes conventional phase of the Anglo-Boer War: Modder River, Magersfontein, Colenso, Spion Kop, and Ladysmith.
Pemberton utilizes a wealth of original primary source documents—including private diaries, letters home from enlisted personnel, and official field intelligence records—to lay bare the staggering strategic blunders, institutional arrogance, and communications failures of British high command during the humiliating "Black Week" of December 1899. Concurrently, the text offers high praise for the exceptional marksmanship, mobile adaptability, and trench tactics of the Boer commandos. Rich with detailed combat maps and gripping frontline narratives, this scarce original first printing serves as an essential reference standard for global collectors and military history specialists.
Author Profile: W. Baring Pemberton
William Baring Pemberton was an eminent British historian, biographer, and academic celebrated for his definitive, highly analytical studies of Victorian and Edwardian military conflicts. Renowned for his meticulous reliance on primary archival documentation and private correspondence archives, Pemberton’s landmark publications for the Batsford historical library have been widely praised by academic societies for combining rigorous academic precision with a compelling, beautifully paced narrative prose style.
William Baring Pemberton was an eminent British historian, biographer, and academic celebrated for his definitive, highly analytical studies of Victorian and Edwardian military conflicts. Renowned for his meticulous reliance on primary archival documentation and private correspondence archives, Pemberton’s landmark publications for the Batsford historical library have been widely praised by academic societies for combining rigorous academic precision with a compelling, beautifully paced narrative prose style.
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