THE SOLDIER TRILOGY

Although it was a massive event at the time, the Boer War (1899 - 1902) has been overshadowed by the even worse wars of the 20th century. Nevertheless, to the men and women who were involved, this war was just as terrible as any other. My trilogy about this war was based partly on original and often unpublished documents.  All three books were published by the independent and very lively Edinburgh company, Fledgling Press.

(www.fledglingpress.co.uk)

The first book of the series is Soldier of the Queen, which follows the career of Andrew Selkirk, a young ploughman from the Scottish Borders who joins the fictitious Royal Border regiment and is sent to South Africa, where he takes part in the bloody affray at Magersfontein as well as the Battle of Klip Drift and the siege of Kimberley.

The second book in the series, Horseman of the Veldt, sees Selkirk as the lieutenant of his own irregular mounted unit, Selkirk's Reivers, and pits him against some dangerous enemies, including an old foe within the ranks of the British Army and a female commander of a Boer commando. This book covers the second, victorious stage of the Boer War and the beginning of the bitter irregular camaigns of 1901. Much of the material for this book was taken from the memoirs of Major Doyle of Doyles Australian Scouts, with other details taken from the histories of the Scottish Horse and Lovat Scouts, but with a Border twist.

In the final book of the series, Selkirk of the Fethan, Drew Selkirk returns home, but his troubles continue. How does the Fethan Valley treat its returning prodigal son? 

Finally, it seemed only sensible to add a fourth, non fiction volume to explain some of the Aspects of the Boer War that were investigated in the series. This book contains the unabridged journal of Private Robert Brown of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, from which much of Soldier of the Queen was drawn.