Boer War Letters

The famous tend to become slotted into cliche. This has been the fate of Emily Hobhouse (1860-1926), an Englishwoman by turns reviled and revered for her controversial humanitarian role in the concentration camps of the Anglo-Boer War. The letters compiled and published in this volume span not only her well-known work in the camps, but her forceful and imaginative role in the ruined former republics after the war. She is seen against an unforgettable backdrop of war-time civilian experience. The letters are liberally annotated and the notes and appendices constitute a treasure trove of quotations, anecdote and sidelight. There is a generous photographic section, highlighting various phases of Emily Hobhouse's life and her South African years.