Zulu Rising

Zulu Rising is Ian Knight’s large-scale reconstruction of the opening crisis of the Anglo-Zulu War, centred on Isandlwana and Rorke’s Drift. Using British records alongside Zulu oral traditions, archaeological evidence and previously unpublished material, Knight follows individuals on both sides from the political origins of the invasion through the fighting of 22–23 January 1879.

The book gives full weight to the Zulu army as a military institution and to the experiences of Zulu participants, while also revisiting long-running disputes about British command decisions and the collapse of the Isandlwana camp. The defence of Rorke’s Drift is treated as part of the same unfolding campaign rather than as an isolated heroic episode. The result is a detailed military and social history of the battles and their aftermath.