The War Reporter. The Anglo-Boer War through the eyes of the Burghers by Grobler, J. E. H

(Johannesburg: Jonathan Ball, 2008) 1868421864. 400 x 290 mm; laminated pictorial wraps; pp. xiv + 157, incl. index; profusely illustrated with contemporary photographs; map. Trace of foxing to edges. Near-fine condition. "The War Reporter is an imaginary newspaper. There was no single Republican or Boer newspaper that was published on either a daily, weekly or monthly basis for the whole duration of the Anglo-Boer War. The 'editor', 'reporters' and 'correspondents' of The War Reporter never actually existed. The aim was to publish an account of the course of the war in its totality - meaning not merely the military confrontations. The format represents the way in which the war could have been reported in a pro-Boer weekly newspaper (monthly from September 1900), published in the South African Republic as the war progressed. One of the most formidable challenges that face historians is to understand the zeitgeist or atmosphere of the period they write about. The same is true for readers of history books. A failure to understand the situation at the time makes it virtually impossible to understand the major events, the decisions taken by the major participants, the reactions of the ordinary people and the contradictions of the past in the context in which they occurred. This was my biggest challenge as I attempted to portray the world and the views of the Boers as the Anglo-Boer War progressed. The book is first and foremost an attempt to answer the question: how did the Boers experience the Anglo-Boer War?" - Author's Introduction. .