Description

The story of the First World War in Africa, an almost forgotten conflict that devastated an area five times the size of Germany and killed more than two million people.
‘A very well-researched account of that extraordinary and fascinating sideshow of the First World War’ Antony Beevor

‘Meticulously researched and written with tremendous lucidity and brio’ William Boyd, Sunday Times

‘The definitive history of that war… Minutely detailed yet entirely engrossing’ Nigel Jones, Sunday Telegraph

A ‘small war’, consisting of a few ‘local affairs’, was all that was expected of the East Africa campaign in August 1914. But two weeks after the Armistice was signed in Europe, British and German troops were still fighting in Africa. The expense of the campaign to the British Empire was immense, the Allied and German ‘butchers bills’ even greater.

But the most tragic consequence of the two sides’ deadly game of ‘tip and run’ was the devastation of an area five times the size of Germany, and civilian suffering on a scale unimaginable in Europe. Such was the cost of ‘The White Man’s Palaver’ – the final phase of the European conquest of Africa.

Publisher Review

Superb... Meticulously researched and written with tremendous lucidity and brio' -- William Boyd, Sunday Times The definitive history of that war... Minutely detailed yet entirely engrossing' * Sunday Telegraph * 'A masterful, damning, definitive account' * Daily Mail * 'A very well researched and well written account of that extraordinary and fascinating sideshow of the First World War, the Anglo-German war in Africa' -- Antony Beevor Gripping... I wholeheartedly recommend this fascinating book' * Daily Telegraph * 'Exhaustively researched, well written and admirably balanced' * Literary Review * Engrossing... A story of the nightmare shaped by European fantasies and lethally visited on African societies' * Guardian * Extraordinary, admirably researched history... As a feat of synthesis and co-ordination of sources, Tip and Run is amazing' * Spectator * 'Very well written and researched, and, with a wealth of detail and good maps, it is certainly a good read' * BBC History. * A superb account that is as moving as it is incisive... Tip and Run is a magnificent achievement' * Irish Times. *