‘Komatipoort Bridge’ by Nick Brown

There isn’t really a great deal of fiction written about the Boer War – unless one counts the stuff by Thomas Pakenham and Prof Pretorius? It was thus refreshing to stumble across a bone fide adventure novel set during the conflict, though – remarkably enough – one will probably learn a lot more about what happened from reading ‘Komatipoort Bridge’ by Nick Brown, than one would from some of the allegedly historical accounts of the war.

The story focuses on behind-the-lines skullduggery and attempts to blow the bridge at Komatipoort, thus cutting off the Boers from their only link to the outside world. It is a colourful and entertaining romp, and fans of classic adventure tales such as ‘Bulldog Drummond’, ‘The Riddle of the Sands’, and ‘The 39 Steps’ will enjoy it. And how refreshing to see there’s at least one person still writing novels in which the Brits are not the Pantomime Villains of the piece.

Available in paperback from Amazon, it is heartily recommended, and I hope it is the first of a series covering the exploits of William Brown.