Book Review: A White Man's War by Graham Watkins

Title: A White Man's War

Author: Graham Watkins

ISBN: 978-1512382341 Publisher: CreateSpace Authors website: Graham Watkins Print Length: 158 pages

Plot:

A White Man's War is set during the Siege of Mafeking, during the second Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902). The defenders of Mafeking were commanded by an unconventional man, who played to win, Robert Baden-Powell, and, who later in life, was to establish the Scouting movement. Out-gunned and outnumbered, it is the story of the trials and tribulations of those having to live within the confines of the besieged town.

While I enjoyed this novel very much, when I finished it, I was left with a feeling that it had more to offer. The story of the siege of Mafeking is an exciting and historically important story and a number of very interesting characters took part in the action. The story, as told, is perfectly adequate, but the characters were somewhat two dimensional. There was little description of either their physical appearance or their personalities. Indeed, the setting gets the same treatment and I was not able to visualise the locations with any real detail. The plot in itself is, of course, exciting, and kept the pace of the story going at a good rate, however the opportunity to really build up the tension and excitement was missed. The historical importance of the event offered a great opportunity to allow the characters time to reflect, either through thought or dialogue, on the situations in which they found themselves. This could have provided a much deeper and richer experience for the reader, again I feel this was a missed opportunity. Having said all that, this is not a poorly written novel, it is just thinner than it might have been. But if you like stories that get straight to the point with no dilly-dallying then this story will be for you.

What other think:

There were 8 reviews on Amazon.co.uk at the time of writing, all of which gave ratings of 4* or above. On Amazon.com there were 7 reviews, one having a 2* rating and the rest 3* or above. The 3* rated review raised many of the issues that I mention above. Of the four reviews on Goodreads.com, three were repeated from Amazon. The remaining review gave a 5* rating.

Other books by the author (click on the image to go Amazon for more details):