KAR: A History Of The King's African Rifles And East African Forces

by Malcolm Page

The King"s African Rifles had their origins in the suppression of the slave trade & the activities of Christian missionaries in East & Central Africa before colonial rule. This is the first complete history of the KAR since its foundation in 1902

Genres: Africa, History, Military History

298 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2011

Reviews

[Al · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a very interesting book on the history of the KAR, and I also think it is a valuable reference. I was especially intrigued by the chapters on the operations in Madagascar, Burma and Malaya, especially as I did not realize that the British conducted combat operations in Madagascar during WW II against the Vichy French. While the book was interesting and informative, it was basically an operational narrative of the different theaters in which the KAR served. It was hard to initially get into the book because of this style of writing, but once I got going, it was no different from reading an S3 journal, which is the biggest weakness of this book. Because of the narrative style the author used, there was virtually no context given, which makes this a difficult read for any general reader not familiar with military history. Another glaring weakness was what may be a lack of fact-checking. On page 135, the author refers to the attack on Pearl Harbor as occurring on 6 DEC 1942, and on the same page, he refers to the HMS Prince of Wales and the HMS Repulse as 2 battleships, whereas the Repulse was a heavy cruiser. These glaring errors by a retired British officer made me question most statistics and dates. While I do have some familiarity with this unit and the history, the book was still a chore to get through. I got to the point that I felt I had to finish it after investing so much time in it. Overall, not bad for a reference work. It needed closer attention to editing and fact-checking, as shown by the glaring error referenced above, about Pearl Harbor.