306pp. Illustrated with b+w photographs. A Historical Novel based on recorded battles. Clean and well bound with no inscriptions, annotations or marks. Appears unread.

In Ritchie’s War South African author Neville Herrington pulls the reader back into a time zone of vivid war encounters with death and carnage, devastating disease, courage, apprehension and futility, loss of faith and recurring youthful determination are daily realities.

A 19 year old South African volunteers to serve in the 1916 East African campaign under General Smuts. But his dreams of embarking on a great adventure quickly dissipates when he becomes engulfed in a nightmarish struggle of survival in a guerilla type warfare in a hostile environment where many soldiers succumbed to tropical diseases.
An encounter in which he comes face to face with death brings to the surface suppressed childhood traumas where unfolding events severed the strong emotional bond with his mother. On his return from the war, he embarks on a life threatening journey in search of answers to this deep seated issue, which continues to haunt him.