The Great War in Africa: 1914-1918

by Byron Farwell

Overview

"A lively, fast-moving narrative."—Publishers Weekly

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393305647
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	07/17/1989
Pages:	384
Sales rank:	1,076,534
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

During the Second World War, Byron Farwell (1921–1999) served as a captain of engineers attached to the Mediterranean Allied Air Force in the British Eighth Army area.

Editorial Reviews

"As [Farwell] so artfully reconstructs it, the African front comprised a series of conflicts full of schemes and maneuvers and heroics and disasters, as the Allies sought to conquer four German colonies in the region while contending as well with other problems caused by the inhospitable climate and geography and by the presence of winged pests. History buffs, especially military, will savor every episode on every page."

Booklist

"[Farwell] has conceived his history as an adventure story, which he tells with brilliant narrative skill."

Washington Times

General readers will enjoy this comprehensive narrative of operations against imperial Germany's African colonies, including Togo, the Cameroons, and Southwest Africa, as well as the more familiar East African campaign. Its anecdotes convey the flavor of war in theaters dominated by disease and logistics. But in contrast to his works on the Victorian army, Farwell limits his perspective to the battlefield. Overwhelmed by the number of good stories at his disposal, he eschews systematic discussion of the polyglot forces engaged, or of the war's impact on subsaharan Africa's fragile colonial structures. The tales of bush fighting become repetitive, adding little to such earlier works as Charles Miller's Battle for the Bundu (1974), and limiting the book's value for specialists. Dennis E. Showalter, History Dept., Colorado Coll., Colorado Springs

Library Journal