Isandlwana

the long version

The Zulu handed the British one of the biggest disasters in their colonial history. Ignoring orders to the contrary, Viscount Chelmsford led his troops into Zululand in 1879, establishing a camp at Islandlwana. But, while Chelmsford and about half his men were away trying to intercept a Zulu force, the camp was hit by a surprise attack. When the Viscount returned the next day, the area was strewn with bodies: of the 1600 troops, all but 55 Europeans and 300 natives had been killed. Armed with new information from recent excavation of the battle site, and important never-before-published documents, Adrian Greaves challenges all previous interpretations of the attack that proved once and for all that the British army was not invincible.