Zulu

Zulu reconstructs the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879, a conflict initiated by British officials seeking to destroy the independent Zulu kingdom and impose a federation on southern Africa. The invasion expected a rapid victory but instead produced the disaster at Isandlwana, where a Zulu army overwhelmed a British column, and the celebrated defence of Rorke’s Drift later the same day.

Saul David follows both armies through the recovery of the British campaign, including Hlobane, Kambula, Eshowe and the final defeat of King Cetshwayo’s forces at Ulundi. Political ambition, intelligence failures, logistics and battlefield command are set beside Zulu organisation and courage. The book treats imperial victory as a tragedy that ended an independent kingdom rather than as a simple story of British heroism.