This book was a freebie for me. Phil Smart emailed me and asked me to read his book. He did everything right and I’ll probably write about his approach on another day because it hit all the spots for me. He flattered me so much I was quite happy to read his book, let’s just ignore the fact that he had already popped it in the post to me before I read my email. I’m often happy to read historical fiction and when I got to reading about Shaka I found myself hypnotised. I know so little about the continent of Africa and it was lovely to read some interesting information about a real life person from South Africa.
Essentially, some English children find themselves stranded on a beach in Africa in 1815. They end up in front of Shaka who spares their lives and takes them captive. He does make it look as if they have freewill to leave at any time, but they’d need help to travel safely. The oldest, Nathaniel, is really knowledgable about war and Napoleon’s strategies and Shaka questions him at length about these things. The second, Andrew, was interested more in being a doctor than going into battle and he’s previously learned a lot from the medical people, information he applies to Shaka’s people. And Beatrice seems to be very fast as picking up the local language and becomes valued as a translator.
Yes, this book was focussed on the three stranded children. Yes, they were always hopeful of finding their parents. But I was really taken by Shaka. He seemed to be an amazing man. And when I google him I find entries in encylopedias, both in Wikipedia and also Britannica, as well as information about a TV series made about him in 2025.
Shaka was the King who made the Zulu nation what it was. When he was sent in to head the warriors the Zulus had only 1,500 people, in less than a year after taking over he’d quadrupled that number. There were two clans large enough to best him and he’d defeated them within two years. He was an amazing warrior and leader rearming his men with assegais and developing standard tactics, essentially taking them away from the numbers game they played before and giving them really good tactics.
‘Numbers game?’
Before Shaka battles were relatively bloodless. The outnumbered side surrendered before they could lose too many people. They used oxhide shields and throwing spears which were rather spindly. The assegais he introduced had long blades and short hafts meaning they had to fight in close quarters rather than throwing their spears from a distance.
This book is well written and engaging. It’s taken an historical figure who we wouldn’t normally see and illustrated him to us. I say ‘normally’ because there have been a few pieces produced about Shaka over the last couple of years. But because he’s black and not white I’ve not heard about him until this book.
Shaka did have some contact with white people, the most notable person was Henry Francis Fynn. I had to ask Smart for more details as my googling showed nothing. But knowing a name helps. According to Fynn’s Wikipedia entry he was one of the first Europeans to contact King Shaka and he married the Zulu princess Mavundlase. Did Fynn tell Shaka about Napoleon Bonaparte’s recent exploits during the French Revolution or did someone else? I’ve no idea I didn’t go that deep into either Shaka or Fynn, but other people have.
The reason I asked Smart for details of white people near Shaka at that time in history is because I was uncomfortable about the three white children essentially feeding Shaka the information he needed to make the Zulus a great warrior nation. I mean, can’t a black person do something amazing without a white person? And that’s where Henry Francis Fynn came in. He’s proof that Shaka had access to white people, access to people who probably knew Napoleon’s tactics. There is a lot more information to be found about Shaka and what little I’ve read indicates that he was brilliant. People of that level of intelligence will not only take the information from other people, but they’ll also use their intelligence to make change in their lives and others.
For a first book, this is a cracker. It’s nicely written, there are few parts with which I take issue. And without the book in front of me I don’t actually remember any of them. I’ve loaned it to my Mum and her best friend. I’m intrigued to see what they think about it. I was fascinated by such details as the warriors being able to run 50 miles in a day, there are some people who dispute this number, but even the numbers they quote are still really impressive.
If Smart is going to give us more historical books about South Africa then I’m there. Ideally, I’d like an appendix provided us with some historical details for people like me who know nothing. But, I’d also like to know far more about the people of South Africa before white man, or the iconic black people of that area. I want to know more about people who are not me.