The Noise of Zulu Battle (The Soldier’s Son Book 1)
Andrew Baird, the son of the famous “Fighting Jack Windrush,” has just arrived in South Africa. It is 1877 and he enlists as a lowly mounted police man. Andrew wants to prove his own worth and not climb the ladder using his father’s credentials. However, his childhood and some training at Sandhurst has taught him the ways of the military, so he fits into his troop like an old glove.
The Noise of Zulu Battle is a well written book following the history of the period Andrew is climbing the military ranks. There are some early skirmishes with the South African tribes before we get into the real meat of the book which focuses on the Zulu- British War of 1879. This as any historian knows started with the route of the British Army and Lord Chelmsford at the Battle of Isandlwana which upset the British no end.
Prior to Andrew’s involvement of this battle, he manages to find himself a good South African girl who he wishes to marry. However, that does not go as planned and leaves him full of hatred for the Zulus and on a mission to find a lost white woman in the midst of the war.
Andrew is an exemplary soldier and soon finds his natural courage and battle skills get push him through the ranks. He leads a motley crew of homesteaders, Boers along with a few Red Coats into a long list of scrapes against the Zulus as he learns the truth about warfare.
We follow the history of the Zulu-British war as Baird works his way from battle to battle meeting all of the famous people along the way. Malcolm, the author, tries to balance Andrew’s feelings towards the war as the book progresses. Mentioning the reasoning behind the British attack on the normally peaceful Zulus.
The Noise of Zulu Battle is well worth the read if you enjoy epic historical adventures in South Africa which I do. I think Malcolm managed to weave the history into the fictional story well and kept the pace up which does not often happen with these long-drawn-out sagas. As a first novel using Andrew Baird, Malcolm Archibald has certainly set himself up in a good point of history where there are so many things to write about. I hope he maintains the balance between the truth of what was actually going on and the propaganda of the time. As is always the case, the winners drew the pictures, sang the songs, and wrote the books.
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