Breaker Morant by Peter Fitzsimons.
I am in two minds about this book because on the one hand the author has done a shed load of research as well as having access to information that may not have been available to earlier authors on the subject. Accordingly, I who previously thought I knew most of what there was to say on the subject, learnt that there was far more to the story. On the other hand the author's style of writing is so infantile that I wanted to take a lump of 4 x 2 to his head. It made reading what should have been an interesting book a very hard slog.
The author is described on the back cover as "Australia's greatest storyteller..." and I felt that the opening words of the book should have been, "Are you sitting comfortably, good, then I'll begin." He interjects personal comments on what he is describing. A small example following the arrest of Morant, "
He may have, for the moment, lost his liberty, but nobody will ever accuse Breaker Morant of having lost his nerve. And bloody cheek, come to think of it." And another on Major Thomas being requested to act as defence counsel,
"A cable for you, Major Thomas." Its like reading a script for a play and there are far worse examples than those two.
As to the contents of the book it is comprehensive. It covers the background to the Boer War, the background to the offer of combatants from the colonies and the initial conventional conduct of the war, although primarily of the Australian parts in that. It also covers in some depth the antics of Morant in Australia and his reasons for enlisting to go to South Africa. It also delves deeply into the change of the conflict into guerrilla warfare and the response from the British which led to the creation of the Bushveldt Carbineers.
It is no spoiler to say that the author is rightly convinced that Morant, Handcock and Whitton were guilty as charged. He also points out that there are significant differences between military justice and civil procedure that have been raised as evidence of unfair play in the matter. However, what came as a surprise to me was that a number of others were also put on trial for the deaths of the Boer prisoners and murder of the German missionary that are at the core of the charges, in some cases it was knowledge after the fact and failure to act appropriately.
The author also makes a very convincing case that one person in particular should have been convicted for some of the deaths although personally not being present. That person was initially charged over eight deaths but Kitchener ruled out six of the charges with the remaining two being very easy to defend. It was no secret that the man was part of Kitchener's intelligence network and did very well from appropriating the livestock taken from the surrendered Boers who were subsequently murdered. The man had the reputation as a murderer among the native Africans.
I learnt a massive amount from the book, for example, the battle at Elands River, another example, the recommendation for mercy from the court martial that was immediately dismissed by Kitchener but there is far, far more than that. It was worth reading but I doubt that I will ever reread it due to my distaste for the author's style. It probably won't even make my bookshelf but will be passed on.
p.s. The film about Morant with Edward Woodwood in the lead role is generally accurate although much condensed and it elevates the role of the defence counsel, Major Thomas, unduly.