The 1879 Zulu War - Ron Lock

The fascination of the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879 continues unabated. It was impassioned almost 40 years ago by the film Zulu, starring Stanley Baker and a yet-to-be-discovered Michael Caine. Zulu has been shown -- and continues to be shown -- on British television more than any other feature film. In the USA and elsewhere it has become a cult movie. Moreover, it created a near avalanche of books, articles, lectures, documentaries and websites that has come close to being an industry. But the basis of all this activity was, in fact, generated 120 years ago by the weekly magazines of Victorian England such as the Illustrated London News. Although copies of the original magazines are much sought after and have become collectors' items, the compilers have painstakingly acquired every issue pertaining to the conflict and, having extracted every report and illustration on the subject, have produced, with an index, and in chronological order, a unique record of the Anglo-Zulu War, albeit through the eyes of a colonial Victorian age.