A Soldier's Life and Work in South Africa. 1872-1879.

A Memoir of the Late Colonel A.W. Durnford. Edited by his Brother, Lieut.-Colonel E[dward] Durnford, Part Author of the "History of the Zulu War and its Origin". Mounted "Woodburytype" photograph portrait frontispiece and folding map, closed tear without loss, archival tape repair verso. Front hinges a little cracked, but overall a very good copy, largely unopened, in the original red decorative cloth, rubbed and somewhat marked. xviii, errata slip, 406pp. Sampson Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington,

SABIB II, p.131. Scarce.

Account of Durnford's service in South Africa, an apologia edited by his brother;

"The court of inquiry into the loss of the camp duly attributed most of the blame for the defeat to Durnford's rash conduct. This was hardly surprising since Chelmsford's staff were determined to make Durnford the scapegoat for the disaster. His brother Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Durnford and Frances Colenso endeavoured through their writings and public lobbying to rehabilitate his reputation. They did not wholly succeed. Durnford's heroic death did much to blunt public criticism of him, but there can be little doubt that his actions contributed materially to the disaster at Isandlwana. As Sir Theophilus Shepstone wrote of him, Durnford was "as plucky as a lion but as imprudent as a child"." [ODNB]

Stock Code: 89304