Rorke's Drift

By: Adrian Greaves

Narrated by: Paul Herzberg

Length: 15 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

The story of the bravest battle ever fought.

On 22nd January 1879 a force of 20,000 Zulus overwhelmed and destroyed the British invading force at Isandlwana, killing and ritually disemboweling more than 1,200 troops. That afternoon, the same Zulu force turned their attention on a small outpost at Rorke's Drift. 

The battle that ensued, one of the British Army's great epics, has since entered into legend. Throughout the night 85 men held off six full-scale Zulu attacks at the cost of only 27 casualties, forcing the Zulu army to withdraw. Eleven Victoria Crosses were awarded for bravery shown on that night, the largest number for any one engagement in history.

But as Adrian Greaves' new research shows, there are several things about the myth of Rorke's Drift that don't add up. While it was the scene of undoubted bravery, it was also the scene of some astonishing cases of cowardice, and there is increasing evidence to suggest that the legend of Rorke's Drift was created to divert attention from the appalling British mistakes which caused the earlier defeat at Isandlwana.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2020 Adrian Greaves (P)2020 Orion Publishing Group

Disappointed

I was very disappointed in this book. I looked forward to this book, but the majority of the book deals with the personalities involved and the reports of the battle and not so much about the battle itself.

Mostly not about the actual fight

The book is 20% an account of the battle and the rest is background.

Penetrating Glimpse into brutal war

The Zulu war was as brutal as a war gets. Unfortunately it is not as well known as the Napoleonic Wars or the American civil war. What the British soldiers endured was shocking and appalling, as was the horror on the other side of the line. The entire war was a travesty. This book provides so much detail and information about all the key players and individual battles, of which 2 are discussed here. I give the book 5 stars for in depth information, narration, and pacing. The only problem with the book is the last 3.5 hours or so. It’s basically an appendix reading. But that is a minor flaw and nothing to get upset about. That information is extremely detailed and exceptional. All in all this is an exceptional book!!

Good narration of a great story

Having listened to a few audiobooks now that involve Southern Africa it was refreshing to hear accurate pronunciations of both Afrikaans and African terms, names, and places - especially from a narrator that sounded British rather than South African. As the book features accounts of the battle from various participants, there is an element of repetitiveness, and there is a lot of dry detail from time to time, but this does not detract from an incredible story well told.

Riveting story.

It is great to listen to the facts from a balanced point of view.well researched..great book.

Great BOOK

great bit of history from when Britain was Great, from disaster to magnificent, well worth a listen.

A rather dry academic study

The writer knows his stuff, but doesn't know how to produce a compelling narrative from all they know. Well over half the book is an appendix with hours of long dry lists. It does, of course, have value, and some may find it very useful, but it's not one for those looking for Stanley Baker and Michael Caine.

Interesting listen

Some great information, although quite a bit of repetition. However, the narrator was awful. Dull and monotonous and the way he pronounced Oskarsberg was very grating. The list of every person who took part in the battle was a very long two hour listen. The transcript of Bournes 1932 radio broadcast though was very interesting. A bit of a mixed bag. Personally I would now rather read the book fo myself.

Duller than dullsville on a dull day !!!

Up to the description of the battle and the immediate aftermath, all is fine but what follows is a further 12 hours of sifting through every detail & name include masses of repetition and I suspect a good bit of contradiction. Thoroughly recommend the transcript of Colour Sergeant Bourne’s 1930s radio broadcast.

Excellent

Loved it. Great for my personal research of the victorian wars. The detail is splendid.

Rorke’s Drift

Absolutely enjoyed this having seen the film when I was a child it is more interesting to listen to haw the really we’re how much smaller they really were what drew them into the army how many times they were promoted and demoted back ground to the history and the following afterwards really worth listening to thanks

Rorke’s Drift very repetitive making a great story dull. Fast forward is the only option

Repetitive repetitive receptive therefore a great story made very dull.So dont both to listen to

Narration is awful

I'm part way through chapter 2 but really struggling as the narration is awful. It's almost as though its computer generated. The narration is laboured, there are delays in the middle of sentences, emphasis placed in the wrong place. It really is making it difficult to listen to the book.