Second Hand From Manifesto to Trial

This comprehensive volume offers an authoritative analysis of the infamous Jameson Raid (1895–1896) in South Africa—an event which triggered the Second Boer War and had profound implications for imperial policy, military history, colonial politics and legal precedent. The book tracks the genesis of the raid in the Reform Committee’s plans within the Transvaal, through the ill-fated incursion by Dr Jameson and his men, to the subsequent trial of the Reform Committee and Jameson’s staff—hence the title, “From Manifesto to Trial”.

Key features include:

• A well-documented narrative of the Reform Committee’s manifesto, the strategy behind the raid, and the political motivations of British imperial agents.
• Close scrutiny of the raid’s military execution: how the incursion was planned, its route, its encounter with Boer forces, and the breakdown which led to capture, political scandal and legal reckoning.
• Detailed coverage of the trial: the actors involved, the legal charges, sentences, public scandal and its aftermath—a unique intersection of military failure and judicial consequence.
• Contextual analysis of the broader ramifications: how the raid influenced Boer/British relations, the build-up to the Boer War, the use of irregular forces in colonial theatres, and the shift in British imperial strategy.
• Suitable for historians of colonial warfare, South African military history, legal history of colonial campaigns and collectors of rare militaria and campaign-based works.

A valuable and scarce work, especially for libraries, collectors of rare military-history works, those studying imperial South Africa, and researchers focused on early irregular warfare and its aftermath in legal and political terms.