Zimbabwe South Africa Zambia Military

Every so often you come across a story that paints a larger than life depiction of someone who you have never heard of. This is one of those stories. Frederick Russell Burnham was an adventurer extraordinaire. Coming from fairly humble origins in the upper Midwest, Burnham learned early in life the scouting skills that would serve him well in South Africa. The book covers his early years, moving from one job to another, developing his skills (and getting very close to being killed), before he married. However, his desire to see the world constantly haunted him, until he decided to move with his family to South Africa. There, the book covers his travels, and his service in the First Matabele War and the Second Matabele War. Later the book covers his service in the Boer war, where he was taken prisoner, and later seriously wounded. I found it hard to believe that his life was not covered by a major movie until I discovered that Ernest Hemmingway was interested in picking up the story until he committed suicide. A great read on a great American story, that primarily takes place overseas. Well worth the read! ( )

Very interesting and matter of fact account of an American who went to S Africa in the late 1800's and served as a skirmisher/scout. Provides quality insight of the natives, Boers and British and the time spanned. ( )