Reddit reviews Diamonds, Gold, and War: The British, the Boers, and the Making of South Africa
We found 2 Reddit comments about Diamonds, Gold, and War: The British, the Boers, and the Making of South Africa. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Used Book in Good Condition
Sorry for the late response here.
Basically, the British established these camps as refugee camps initially. These camps became very crowded as the British destroyed land as they came across it (think Russia's scorched earth in World War II). However, when the Boer's insurgent warfare methodology was proving difficult to defeat militarily (very similar to how America found itself unable to defeat insurgents in the Middle East), they began turning the refugee camps in to concentration camps.
Conditions were poor, food was scarce, and Boers were dying in droves from disease. The British essentially gave the Boer fighters the ultimatum of continuing to fight and having their families die in these camps, or forfeit and have their families back.
To this day, it is one of the rare examples of an effective anti-insurgent strategy.
Good books for further reading:
Diamonds, Gold, and War by Martin Meredith
The Boer War: A History by Denis Judd
Bring back a bottle of wine and some rooibos tea then stop by Out of Africa in OR Tambo and you'll find something interesting to bring back as well.
You should read a book on the history of South Africa so you can gain some context as well. I would recommend this book.