BATTLE FOR THE BUNDU: The First Worm War in East Africa

by Charles Miller ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 27, 1974

Literally fighting through thorns in the East African interior, a quarter of a million Belgian and British forces failed to trap the small but elite Schutztruppe led by Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck. Thus the Kaiser's Army succeeded in diverting the greatest possible number of Allied troops from Europe into four years of dust and disease and endless pursuit through the prickly bundu of enemies composed mainly of natives from the local ""black master race."" Far better supplied, in control of the seas and coastal waters, von Lettow's opponent General Smuts remained an unimaginative strategist, and when the Allies finally got their classic fixed battle, 2,700 men were lost -- and von Lettow escaped to maraud elsewhere. This account is a bit romanticized but very palpable. It is militarily sophisticated and also nostalgic for the old days of formal warfare, thus sympathetic to the Germans on both counts. But note that Miller's hero von Lettow could not stomach Hitler.

Pub Date: May 27, 1974

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Macmillan

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1974

Categories: NONFICTION