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Historical person
Sir Evelyn Wood was a British soldier who rose to field marshal after service in the Crimean War, the Indian Rebellion, the Ashanti campaign, southern Africa and Egypt. He received the Victoria Cross in India and commanded a column during the Anglo-Zulu War, winning an important defensive battle at Kambula after earlier reverses. He later held senior commands and took part in army reform.
In fiction about the Anglo-Zulu War, Wood is usually shown as an energetic and sometimes unconventional commander whose success contrasts with the failures surrounding Isandlwana. His long imperial career also allows novels and non-fiction to connect several Victorian campaigns rather than treating each war in isolation. Portrayals should balance personal courage and professional ability against the colonial aims of the forces he commanded.
Series
Blackwood of the Empire follows the fictional Welsh officer William Blackwood through two major campaigns of the late Victorian army. The first three novels place him in the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879, from the disordered opening invasion through Hlobane, Kambula and the final advance on Ulundi. The later…
All books in this series
