THE BOER INVASION OF THE ZULU KINGDOM, 1837-1840

368pp., illus., maps, paperback , First SA Edition, Johannesburg, 2023

First published in the UK in 2022.

John Laband examines the war between the Boers and Zulu in its entire context and develops the less well-known Zulu perspective, explaining political motivation, strategic military objectives and fissures in the royal house. He contrasts the Boer and Zulu military systems, explains both victory and defeat in the many battles of the war, and presents the Great Trek of the Boers within the context of the many migrations taking place at that time in southern Africa as the result of widespread political and social upheavals.

John Laband is Professor Emeritus and Chair of History at Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada, a Life Member of Clare Hall, Cambridge University, England, and Research Associate at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. His books include The Rise and Full of the Zulu Nation (1997); The Atlas of the Later Zulu Wars (2002); The Transvaal Rebellion: The First Boer War (2005); Kingdom in Crisis: The Zulu Response to the British Invasion of 1879 (2007); Historical Dictionary of the Zulu Wars (2009) and Zulu Warriors: The battle for the South African frontier (2014).