Ian Knight (born 1956) is a British
historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...
and writer, specialising in
Anglo-Zulu and
Boers wars.
Biography
Ian Knight was born in Shoreham-by-Sea, Sussex, UK. He first studied
Afro-Caribbean history
''For a history of Afro-Caribbean people in the UK, see British African Caribbean community.''
Afro-Caribbean history (or African-Caribbean history) is the portion of Caribbean history that specifically discusses the Afro-Caribbean or Black raci ...
at the
University of Kent
The University of Kent (formerly the University of Kent at Canterbury, abbreviated as UKC) is a Collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university based in Kent, United Kingdom. The university was granted its roya ...
in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, then he majored in the military history of southern Africa and the history of the
Zulu nation and the
Anglo-Zulu war
The Anglo-Zulu War was fought in present-day South Africa from January to early July 1879 between forces of the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom. Two famous battles of the war were the Zulu victory at Battle of Isandlwana, Isandlwana and th ...
of 1879 in particular. He published many books on the subject (nearly thirty) and took part in the first archaeological excavations of the battlefield of
Isandhlwana in 2000. His best known book is the in-depth study of the Isandlwana and Rorke's Drift campaigns, Zulu Rising. He has occasionally written about other British colonial campaigns, including the New Zealand and Sudan wars. He has advised on museum exhibitions in both the UK and South Africa, and has consulted for British and American television channels, including the BBC, in the production of documentaries. He has catalogued sales of Zulu artefacts for auction houses. In 2019 he narrated a re-enactment of the battle of Isandlwana on the battlefield as part of the 140th anniversary commemoration, in the presence of His Majesty King Goodwill Zwelithini and Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi. or for commemorative events.
Bibliography
* ''Great Zulu battles, 1838-1906'', Castle Books, 1988,
* ''Queen Victoria's Enemies (2): Northern Africa'', Bloomsbury USA, 1989
* ''By Orders of the Great White Queen: Campaigning in Zululand Through the Eyes of the British Soldier, 1879'' (editor), Greenhill Books, 1992,
* ''Zulu 1816–1906'', Bloomsbury USA, 1995
* ''The Anatomy of the Zulu Army, from Shaka to Cetshwayo 1818-1879'', Greenhill Books, Londres, 1999,
* with Ian Castle, ''Zulu War, 1879'', Osprey campaign, 2001,
* ''With his face to the foe : the life and death of Louis Napoléon, the prince imperial, Zululand, 1879'', Staplehurst (GB), 2001
* ''Isandlwana 1879'', Osprey campaign, 2002,
* ''The National Army Museum book of the Zulu war'', Pan Books, 2003,
* ''Boer Commando 1876 - 1902'', Osprey publishing, 2004
* ''British fortifications in Zululand, 1879'', Osprey publishing, 2005
* ''Brave Men's Blood - the Anglo-Zulu war of 1879'', Pen & Sword Military Classics, 2005,
* ''A Companion to the Anglo-Zulu War'', Pen & Sword Military Classics, 2008
* ''Maori Fortifications'', Bloomsbury USA, 2009
* ''Zulu Rising: The Epic Story of Isandlwana and Rorke's Drift'', Macmillan, 2010
* ''The New Zealand Wars 1820–72'', Bloomsbury Publishing, 2013
* ''Boer Guerrilla vs British Mounted Soldiers: South Africa 1880-1902'', Osprey publishing, 2017
Honours and awards
*
Royal United Services Institute
The Royal United Services Institute (RUSI, Rusi) is a defence and security think tank with its headquarters in London, United Kingdom. It was founded in 1831 by the Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, Duke of Wellington, Arthur Wellesley ...
's Prize for Best Military History in 2003.
* Awarded the Anglo-Zulu Historical Society's Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi Award for lifetime's achievement in the field of Zulu history.
Further reading
* Adrian Greaves, ''The Tribe That Washed Its Spears: The Zulus at War'', Pen & Sword Military, 2013
* Desmond Bowen, Heroic Option: The Irish in the British Army, Pen & Sword Military, 2005
*
John Laband, ''Kingdom in Crisis: The Zulu Response to the British Invasion of 1879'', Manchester University Press, 1992
* John Laband, ''Historical Dictionary of the Zulu Wars'', The Scarecrow press, 2009
References
External links
Osprey Publishing
British military historians
1956 births
Alumni of the University of Kent
British male non-fiction writers
People from Shoreham-by-Sea
Writers from Sussex
20th-century British non-fiction writers
21st-century British non-fiction writers
Living people
{{UK-historian-stub