What do we know about the lives of the Zulu War Authors ?

Posts : 747 Join date : 2009-10-18

I have been sitting in my living room going through by Zulu War Book collection.
And this thought came into my head.

What do we know about the lives of the Zulu War Authors? Whose books we buy and enjoy. Maybe if we knew a bit about there lives we could determine what drives them to write these books that are full of facts and information that helps forums like this to exist. (The research must be so time consuming)

For instance “Indeed, Knight, now one of the world's foremost experts on the 19th-century Zulu kingdom and the Anglo-Zulu wars of 1879, had been fascinated with Zulu history since he was a small boy and saw the 1964 movie "Zulu," about the wars. As a teenager Knight discovered that he had a family connection to the battle -- a distant relative, Sergeant Thomas Cooper of the 1st Battalion of the 24th Regiment, had died fighting for the British at Isandlwana.

Ian Knight says

"The more I got interested in this period, the more it seemed to me that I wasn't, as a British person in the 1960s and 1970s, really learning anything about it," Knight says. "We were getting only the Victorian British perspective on it all, and I wanted to start looking at the Zulu side of things, to try and get some idea of what the war meant to them and how they prosecuted it."

But what about the rest.

G.

This could be an interesting discussion

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"Ron Lock is a registered battlefield guide of long standing and has spent much of his life in Africa, including thirteen years in Kenya and Tanganyika. He served in the Mounted Troop of the Royal Military Police saw active service with and the Rift Valley Troop of the Kenya Police. He is also the author of Blood on the Painted Mountain – Hlobane and Kambula, 1879 (Greenhill Books, London) and his numerous articles on military history have been published in both UK and USA."

"Peter Quantrill comes from a military family and was born in Simla , India , where he spent much of his youth.
He was commissioned from the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, into the 1st Battalion 7th Duke of Edinburgh’s Own Gurkha Rifles, (now the 2nd Battalion Royal Gurkha Rifles.) He served in India, Nepal, and saw active service in Malaya and Borneo. A keen student of military history, Peter joined Ron in the co-authoring of many works on the Anglo-Zulu War."

"The prerequisite to this joint venture was to base their work on meticulous and painstaking research. In some instances, for example, many conclusions drawn, backed by new evidence in their work, “Zulu Victory, The Epic of Isandlwana and the Cover-Up” has caused a revision of previously held views on this controversial battle."

Source: Zulu War Copyright Lock/Quantrill

2006

Posts : 2593 Join date : 2009-04-24

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Lt Col. Mike Snook

Born in Monmouthshire, Lieutenant Colonel Mike Snook is a lifelong professional soldier.
After graduating successively from Leicester University and Sandhurst, he was commissioned into the Royal Regiment of Wales in 1984. Since then he has served all around the world, including active service in regimental and staff appointments in Afghanistan, Bosnia, South Armagh and Belfast.

His newest work, Into the Jaws of Death: British Military Blunders 1879-1900, analyzes notable military disasters of the Victorian era. A graduate of the Army Staff College at Camberley, in recent years he has worked as a British military adviser in South Africa and as the Chief Instructor of the Tactical Intelligence Branch at the Defence College of Intelligence.

Presently on the HQ staff at the Defence Academy, he is utilizing his spare time to read for a PhD.

Subject: zulu war authors Fri Dec 04, 2009 11:11 pm

hi littlehand.
I can tell you the books.... BLOOD ON THE PAINTED MOUNTAIN., and ZULU VICTORY- THE EPIC OF
ISANDLWANA AND THE COVER UP. Are must have or read publications , you can get them at a very
reasonable price on the net. If you or anyone wishes a link , let me know .

.
cheers 90th.

Posts : 1862 Join date : 2009-03-25

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Ken Gillings is a National Tour Guide, and a Battlefield Guide for all South African Battlefields.
Ken Gillings has undertaken extensive research into South African Battlefields, especially those in KwaZulu-Natal. He has written numerous articles and books. He co-edited "The War Memoirs of Commandant Ludwig Krause", published by the van Riebeeck Society,wrote “The Battle of the Thukela Heights” (The Relief of Ladysmith), published by Ravan Press as a series of Battles to commemorate the centenary of the Anglo-Boer War, and teamed up with world-famous photographer John Hone to produce "Battles of KwaZulu-Natal" (Art Publishers),which is in its third edition.

Can't seem to find anything on John Young. (They Fell like stones) I believe he is serving in the Police, Anyone got any information.

Subject: Adrian Greaves Tue Jan 12, 2010 11:41 pm

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Having spent many years as a police superintendent, Dr Adrian Greaves now devotes all his time to the study of the Anglo-Zulu Wars. He is the founder/editor of the Journal of the Anglo-Zulu War Historical Society, and gives regular battlefield tours of Isandlwana and Rorke's Drift.

Posts : 9 Join date : 2012-05-28 Location : Derbyshire

Does anyone know about a fiction book written by Adrian Greaves titled Flights of Colour. Is it based on the Zulu war ?
Kendrick

Posts : 2008 Join date : 2011-08-01 Age : 27

Its briliant, one of the best books i've read. its about a soldier who saves the colour of the 2/24th but is forced to go on the run from the army. He fights in the boar war and the colour gets passed through the family, to modern day. Lots of conspiracy and twists.

Here's some infomation.

"Following a near fatal accident in 1985 while on Police duty, the author underwent numerous major spinal operations and spent many months in hospital; Flight of Colour was written during the following years of recuperation. It was first published in 1992 as a private publication and was followed by a limited editio, which quickly sold out. Following his subsequent retirement from the Police Service, success followed as an author. So many requests were received over the years for Flight of Colour to be re-issued that it has now been revised, updated and re published. The story is based on the experiences of the author’s ancestors who, in the early 1870s, sought to escape the poverty of life in England’s rural community for a new life farming in South Africa. From humble beginnings, the family prospered and, over the years, many of them were touched by the dramatic events that unfurled as South Africa developed. Some members of the family still live in South Africa while others have settled further afield in Australia and America, though their individual successes all directly hinge on their ancestors’ earlier experiences. Although based on family records and diaries, the account is nevertheless a story and must be read as such, though the significance of key characters and events will be easily recognised by living family members. The most frequently asked questions following the initial publication of Flight of Colour were limited to two, ‘what happened to the diamonds?’ and ‘what happened to the Colour? As the answers have no bearing on the story I can answer them both here and now; the diamonds were sold following the First World War and the Colour still exists – though it is now independently owned. As is to be expected from Adrian Greaves, the story line starts with the advent of the Anglo Zulu War of 1879. In keeping with that epic event, the story moves apace and weaves a strong human dimension into the account. The book’s excitement follows the dramatic events from the onset of war against the Zulus to the Boer War and then moves through the turmoil that accompanied South Africa’s independence to the present time. As before, cracking read that will appeal to anyone who enjoys a gripping story, it will especially appeal to devotees of the Anglo Zulu War"

Posts : 2593 Join date : 2009-04-24

Hate History being turned into fiction. :evil:

CTSG
I notice no one has mentioned Saul Davids so I would assume he comes under the heading of Fiction? :lol:

Cheers

Hi CTSG.

I totally agree with you on that my friend. Salute

What gives people the right to turn historical fact into a load of fictitious fantasy and myth, and then churn it out either in a book or on the silver screen, so that the uninitiated and the gullible fall for it all and believe it to be the truth. Suspect

What makes matters worse, are the places and web sites that could and should do something about correcting all this, don't do anything to alter the status quo, as these sort of places feed off all this sort of stuff, and so are quite content at letting the uninitiated and gullible people believe that all this fiction, fantasy and myth is indeed fact. Shame on them. :evil:

Posts : 705 Join date : 2012-05-05

Zulu Hart was a good read. Salute

Posts : 2 Join date : 2012-07-06 Location : Chelmsford

I remember reading some years ago, although I cannot recal where that Adrian Greaves was a mountaineer and climbed the Eiger ,a feat which I believe may have later been recognized by Prince Charles.

Posts : 2308 Join date : 2010-07-02 Age : 44

Thanks Norman, we learn something everyday.

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Mr Greaves wrote:: "For instance “Indeed, Ian Knight, now one of the world's foremost experts on the 19th-century Zulu kingdom and the Anglo-Zulu wars of 1879, had been fascinated with Zulu history since he was a small boy and saw the 1964 movie "Zulu," about the wars."
But what about the rest.G.

Martin, I think I know where you are going with this; ironically however, if it hadn't been for the film Zulu, Ian Knight and many others of us on this forum would never have become interested in, or become inspired to learn more about the truth of this small Victorian War.

Posts : 18 Join date : 2012-09-24 Location : Exeter

Mr M. Cooper wrote:: Hi CTSG.

I totally agree with you on that my friend.

What gives people the right to turn historical fact into a load of fictitious fantasy and myth, and then churn it out either in a book or on the silver screen, so that the uninitiated and the gullible fall for it all and believe it to be the truth.

What makes matters worse, are the places and web sites that could and should do something about correcting all this, don't do anything to alter the status quo, as these sort of places feed off all this sort of stuff, and so are quite content at letting the uninitiated and gullible people believe that all this fiction, fantasy and myth is indeed fact. Shame on them. :evil:

Mmm. You've just written off most of Shakespeare - the eight plays on the Wars of the Roses, King Lear, Macbeth, King John, Titus Andronicus, Julius Caesar, Coriolanus... will you give us the Trojan wars and Greek stories, or do we lose those too?

I think the only problem with historical fiction is when it purports to be fact. It galls me to have Americans decoding Enigma, or flying the Memphis Belle, just as it galls me to have Otto Witt's daughter preaching to B Coy, 2nd/24th, or Michael Caine cutting a dash as Bromhead, or Cl. Sgt Bourne as a strapping, bewhiskered veteran. But these things are fiction, and films, too. The most important thing in telling a story by film is... telling a story, Compare Zulu to Gettysburg... the latter is an extremely accurate, authentic rendition based on the written accounts of the battle. But I know which is the better film.

Biographical History

Donald R. Morris (1924-2002) was best known for authoring The Washing of the Spears: The Rise and Fall of the Zulu Nation (1965), a history on the Anglo-Zulu War. He wrote two novels, China Station (1951) and Warm Bodies (1957), and a number of articles for publication in various periodicals. His spent his career in the Navy, the CIA, and, after retirement, as a journalist for the Houston Post.

Morris was born in 1924 and raised in New York City. He graduated from Horace Mann, spent three semesters at the University of Michigan (majoring in Naval Architecture and Chinese) and enlisted in the Navy in 1942. He entered the United States Naval Academy, Annapolis in 1944 and graduated in 1948 with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering.

He served on three destroyers and an LST, and worked on the Victory at Sea television series. After Naval Intelligence School and Russian language training, he was detailed to the C.I.A. in 1956. He resigned his regular commission in 1960, remaining with the C.I.A. and continuing in the Naval Reserve until 1972, retiring as a Lieutenant Commander. He earned two battle stars in Korea and holds the Navy Commendation medal and a South Vietnamese decoration for psychological warfare.
Morris served with the C.I.A. until 1972, retiring with a total of 30 years government service. His 17 years with the C.I.A. were spent almost entirely in Soviet counterespionage operations, with 11 years overseas. He was stationed in Berlin from 1958 to 1962, in Paris from 1965 to 1967, in Kinshasa from 1969 to 1970 and spent the last two years of his service in Vietnam with MACV/SOG.

Donald Morris started to write for publication while at the Naval Academy and continued to do so for the rest of his life. His two novels, though works of fiction, were partly inspired by his general life and naval experiences. Warm Bodies was a Reader's Digest Book Club selection and was also adapted into a motion picture titled All Hands on Deck. However, he is better known for his book The Washing of the Spears that was first published in 1965 and reissued several times. Morris also wrote a number of articles for publication in various periodicals.

He developed a career in journalism after retiring from government service. He was a news analyst for The Houston Post from 1972 to 1989, writing an op-ed column on national and foreign affairs four times a week. In 1989, he established The Trident Syndicate which published the Donald R. Morris Newsletter that continued his four weekly columns of news analysis. Morris also gave lectures on national and foreign affairs in addition to teaching writing and African history courses at some universities in Texas.

Throughout his life, he remained interested in African, particularly South African current affairs. He wrote a considerable number of columns with his take on South African and African politics particularly in the The Houston Post, visited South Africa several times and worked as an election observer in Lesotho (1993) and South Africa (1994).
Donald Morris died on 4 December 2002.

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