War Impressions: Being a Record in Colour
Mortimer Menpes
Read by Phil Benson
A personal account of the second Boer War by Australian expatriate artist Mortimer Menpes. Menpes travelled to South Africa as a correspondent for the London weekly Black and White magazine. He was not only an accomplished illustrator who provided 99 watercolours for War Impressions, but also a skilled raconteur. Menpes portrayed, in words and paint, the major military commanders on the British side as well as notable civilian figures such as Cecil Rhodes, Arthur Conan Doyle and Rudyard Kipling. Although he saw little fighting, his paintings and anecdotes of life behind the British lines provide insight into the realities of the Boer War. War Impressions is also notable as the first in A. & C. Black's extensive series of colour books, in which Menpes used the Henschel colourtype process to pioneer the production of quality colour reproductions of works of art. The text of the book was transcribed by his daughter Dorothy, who was 14 years old at the time of its publication. Dorothy accompanied her father on his later artistic travels and the two went on to co-author six titles in the Black's colour book series. - Summary by Phil Benson (6 hr 55 min)
Chapters
Preface | 1:21 | Read by Phil Benson |
Sea and Veldt | 16:54 | Read by Phil Benson |
On the Way to Orange River | 21:24 | Read by Phil Benson |
The Veteran | 23:22 | Read by Phil Benson |
Kimberley Relieved | 19:02 | Read by Phil Benson |
Story of a Cape Cart | 38:15 | Read by Phil Benson |
Lord Roberts | 36:01 | Read by Phil Benson |
Sir Alfred Milner | 22:18 | Read by Phil Benson |
The Right Honourable Cecil Rhodes | 33:00 | Read by Phil Benson |
Personalities | 32:34 | Read by Phil Benson |
Journalism in the Field | 23:44 | Read by Phil Benson |
Medicine in the Field | 17:30 | Read by Phil Benson |
Religion in the Field | 16:36 | Read by Phil Benson |
The War and Philately | 19:24 | Read by Phil Benson |
Tommy and his Officer | 26:41 | Read by Phil Benson |
The Enemy | 47:00 | Read by Phil Benson |
Reflections on the Campaign | 20:24 | Read by Phil Benson |