by Adrian Greaves
Hardback (6.4×9.5 inches). 188 pages. 2026.
Subtitle: Forgotten Turning Point of the Anglo-Zulu War
For most, the popular battle between the British and Zulus is Rorke’s Drift. The more important battle is Isandlwana. Yet the premise of this book is that the British victory at Khambula just after the defeat at Hlobane turned the Anglo-Zulu War in favor of the British.
On the same day as Isandlwana, the first battle of Hlobane occurred: a minor skirmish. That was followed by the Battle of Ntombe, in which the Zulus overran a V-shaped supply wagon laager adjacent to a river.
Hlobane was a plateau where the Zulus grazed cattle and the British sent a force to grab the cattle. Yet without adequate reconnaissance, the plateau proved to be virtually impassable. While the initial two-pronged attack did make the top of the plateau, the pre-arranged retreat route turned out to be cliff-like and most British were trapped and slaughtered.
Khambula was the base camp atop a small hillock that the British had fortified. Remnants of the Hlobane force made it back and the Zulus took their time moving to surround it. Marsh, artillery, and British firepower and resolve proved a good combination for British defense.
A couple typos: duplicate sentence fragments about war wounds (p32) and “snipping at the redoubt” (p90) should be “sniping.”
The book contains 21 black and white photos, six black and white illustrations, and one black and white map (Ntombe).
Oddly enough, there are no maps of Hlobane and Khambula, which is a bit of a disappointment if you want to set up a tabletop scenario. The photos of the remote place help a bit. The Appendices contain original reports.
The battles are competently told and the analysis of what went wrong and right for the British is even better. Glossing over details receives an examination of the official and personal reports that are understandable from the viewpoint of career officers seeking to make British troop losses less problematic than the final correlation of casualties.
Enjoyed it.
— Reviewed by Russ Lockwood
