Non-fiction: The Great Boer War

Overview
Arthur Conan Doyle's The Great Boer War is a contemporary narrative and analysis of the Second Boer War that blends reportage, military history, and political commentary. Written amid public debate and fresh on the heels of major campaigns, the book sets out a chronological account of the conflict while pausing frequently to interpret causes, personalities, and consequences. Doyle aims to explain both what happened on the battlefields and why the war unfolded as it did.

Causes and Context
The book frames the war against a backdrop of competing national ambitions, economic pressures, and constitutional tensions within southern Africa. Doyle examines British imperial objectives, Boer desires for self-determination, and the immediate spark of controversy over the rights of "Uitlanders" in the Transvaal and the strategic importance of the region. He gives attention to diplomatic failures, the tone of Boer leadership, and the misjudgments that hardened positions on both sides, stressing a mixture of long-term rivalry and shorter-term provocations.

Campaign Narratives
Doyle delivers vivid accounts of the major operations that dominated the early war: sieges such as Ladysmith, Mafeking, and Kimberley; the relief efforts under Generals like Buller and Roberts; and the set-piece battles that revealed both British strengths and weaknesses. He narrates troop movements, command decisions, and the human side of campaigning, depicting soldiers' endurance, the strain of logistics, and the impact of terrain and climate on operations. The transition to guerrilla war is treated as a defining phase that exposed the limits of conventional tactics and necessitated a new British response.

Analysis and Critique
Beyond narrative, Doyle is an engaged analyst. He praises the courage and resilience of common soldiers while criticizing shortcomings in organization, intelligence, and political direction. He is unsparing about the difficulties of mobilization, the confusion of early leadership, and the cost of underestimating a mobile, determined enemy. At the same time he defends the aims of the British government from a patriotic perspective, arguing that strategic security and imperial responsibilities framed many of the decisions taken by ministers and generals.

Consequences and Reflections
Doyle considers the wider implications of the war for military reform, imperial policy, and Anglo-Boer relations. He predicts that lessons learned will drive changes in army structure, training, and logistics and suggests that political reconciliation and administrative reform will determine the region's future peace. The tone oscillates between martial urgency and solicitude for human suffering, and Doyle frequently calls for practical remedies to prevent repetition of the same mistakes.

Style and Value
Written with clarity and immediacy, Doyle's account marries journalistic detail with strategic synthesis. It is strongest where it conveys the drama of campaigns and the character of participants; it is occasionally partisan in judgment but consistently readable and informed. For readers seeking a near-contemporary synthesis of the Second Boer War that balances narrative, analysis, and commentary, The Great Boer War remains a significant and accessible source.