Rags of Glory Author:Stuart Cloete Kirkus Reviews — Link this with The Turning Wheels (the memorable story of the Boer trek- 1937) and one sees Cloete as more than a novelist, concerned with a people and an era- one sees him as a gifted historian. The Boer War comes into immediate reality- even to the endless miles of territory covered, the futile marches and counter- marches- an... more »d above all the abysmal stupidity which characterized it from initiation to finality -- an inglorious war, from which the British wrung their "rags of glory". Cloete has given us all of this, but he has done it in human terms against the background of the events of the war and post-war and the men and women who were involved. The human factors were not all of them historical -- and the shifts from side to side- from South Africa to England and back -- make it possible for him to build many plots, romances and adventures into the warp and woof of this tale. However the characters that dominate are these:- the sons of widow Catalina Maria Elvira du Toit, and how they grew to-man's estate in the years of war; and Captain John Turnbull of the Hussars with his "light of love" Elsie -- taken from a whore-house and remade into the woman he could marry. The threads of these stories link together many other minor plots to make a colorful and often poignant whole. The book is tremendously long -- at times one bogs down in minutiae of campaigns -- but just in time Cloete catches imagination and interest- and curiosity- once again, down to the last paragraph« less
This was a really delightful book,I had a hard time putting it down,its a fast read.The Author makes you feel like your there on his farm and hes telling you the story!
This is a work of fiction based on the parallels between the United States and South Africa, growing as colonies, struggling through civil war and cultural differences.
An enjoyable recounting of the days on Jon Katz's hobby farm in Vermont. A bit slow but pleasant to get to know the animals in his life and their impact on him.