Hill of Squandered Valour: The Battle for Spion Kop, 1900

Hill of Squandered Valour examines the Battle of Spion Kop in January 1900, the bloodiest episode of the Second Boer War. Located northeast of Ladysmith, South Africa, Spion Kop was the largest hill in the region at over 1,400 feet high and sat at the center of the Boer defensive line. Control of the position would have allowed the British to command the surrounding Boer flanks with artillery. On the night of January 23, 1900, a large British force under Major General Edward Woodgate was sent to capture the height, with Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Thorneycroft leading the initial assault. The Boers resisted, resulting in two days of intense fighting. Ron Lock presents this previously overlooked campaign in detailed narrative, drawing on sources including journalist Winston Churchill's battle report and previously unpublished illustrations. The book includes six newly commissioned maps and is intended for historians and strategists studying this conflict.