Louis Botha’s War: The Campaign in German South-West Africa, 1914–1915 - Adam Cruise (Book)

Title: Louis Botha’s War: The Campaign in German South-West Africa, 1914–1915

Author: Adam Cruise

Date Published: 2015

Publisher: Zebra Press

Category: History / Military / South African History

Louis Botha’s War chronicles South Africa’s pivotal campaign during World War I under the leadership of Prime Minister Louis Botha. Just twelve years after the Anglo-Boer War, Botha, a former Boer general, led South African forces against German colonial troops in South-West Africa (now Namibia). Before confronting the Germans, Botha had to suppress a rebellion by Afrikaners who opposed fighting alongside the British. The book details the harsh desert conditions, the involvement of Botha’s wife on the battlefield, and the legend of a gold-filled safe submerged in a lake. Cruise utilizes journals, memoirs, and historical documents to reconstruct these events and examines how the campaign influenced South Africa’s relationship with its northern neighbor for decades.

This work sheds light on a lesser-known theater of World War I, highlighting Botha’s military and political acumen. Winston Churchill once described Botha as “the greatest general he had ever known,” and this book offers insight into the campaign that earned him such acclaim.