In his splendid new study of Isandlwana and Rorke's Drift, historian Ian Beckett [..] succeeds in placing these battles that took place at the outset of the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879 into their broader imperial context, references the misinformation associated with each conflict, and examines the role of popular culture in broadening the publics interest in these intercultural encounters.
Professor Ian F. W. Beckett retired as Professor of Military History at the University of Kent in 2015. A Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, he is internationally known for his work on the history of the British Army in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and on the First World War. Previously, he held chairs in both the US and the UK, including as Major General Matthew C Horner Distinguished Professor of Military Theory at the US Marine Corps University, Quantico, Virginia. He was Chairman of the Council of the UK Army Records Society from 2001 to 2014.