How Can Man Die Better, Lieutenant Colonel Mike Snook
How Can Man Die Better, Lieutenant Colonel Mike Snook
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How Can Man Die Better
The Secrets of Isandlwana Revealed

Author: Lieutenant Colonel Mike Snook, Brigadier David Keenan

Narrator: Dennis Kleinman

Unabridged: 10 hr 58 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 12/21/2021

Synopsis

On January 22, 1879, a massive Zulu host attacked the British Army's 24th Regiment in its encampment at the foot of the mountain of Isandlwana. It was the first major encounter in the Anglo-Zulu War and a disastrous defeat for the colonial power. Later that afternoon the victorious Zulus would strike the tiny British garrison at Rorke's Drift.

How Can Man Die Better is a unique analysis of the Battle of Isandlwana, covering the weapons, tactics, terrain, and the intriguing characters who made key military decisions. While much is still unknown about the battle, this work eschews the commonly held perception that the British collapse was sudden and that the 24th Regiment was quickly overwhelmed. Rather, historian Mike Snook argues that there was a protracted and heroic defense against a determined and equally heroic foe. A British Army colonel who served in South Africa, Snook reconstructs the final phase of the battle in a way that has never been attempted before.

About Lieutenant Colonel Mike Snook

Born in Monmouthshire, Lieutenant Colonel Mike Snook is a lifelong professional soldier. After graduating successively from Leicester University and Sandhurst, he was commissioned into the Royal Regiment of Wales in 1984. Since then he has served all around the world, including active service in regimental and staff appointments in Afghanistan, Bosnia, South Armagh, and Belfast. In recent years he has worked as a British military adviser in South Africa and as the Chief Instructor of the Tactical Intelligence Branch at the Defence College of Intelligence.

Presently on the HQ staff at the Defence Academy, he is utilizing his spare time to read for a PhD.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Chris on August 01, 2019

And how can man die better, Than facing fearful odds, For the ashes of his fathers, And the temples of his Gods.’ Horatius, Lord Macaulay Mike Snook’s excellent book is a corrective to the popular conception of the Battle of Isandlwana, and his writing is engrossing, even poetic at times, as he unfol......more

Goodreads review by James on September 01, 2013

This is the most informative book on the battle of Iswandlwana I've ever read or heard tell. It clears up some mis-information and eroneous conclussions from past Authors and historians. The Author breaks down the battle phases in detail and the different skirmishes and the key commanders and partic......more

Goodreads review by George on September 06, 2007

This book attempts to revise popular perceptions of the battle of Islandlwana, in the 1870s in which over 1,200 British troops (over six times as many as died at the Little Bighorn) arrayed in battle formation with modern rifles and supported by cannon and rocket fire were overrun and slaughtered by......more

Goodreads review by Phil on September 02, 2024

How Can a Man Die Better is a good review of Isandlwana from the British viewpoint, although rather a British hagiography of Snook's beloved 24th. Unfortunately, like every other book on the battle, the Zulus are cardboard cutouts (perhaps 3D cutouts like in a movie theatre, but cardboard cutouts non......more

Goodreads review by Bob Green on April 16, 2019

My review of How can man for better The washing of the spears was my first taste of the Zulu war. As my brother is a Welsh man and lives next to the church in Brecon i have a connection to the town. This book is a awesome thrilling and all together chilling account of the events leading to the destruc......more

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