In early 1900, the paths of three British writers—Rudyard Kipling, Mary Kingsley and Arthur Conan Doyle—crossed in South Africa, during what’s become known as Britain’s last imperial war. Each of the three had pressing personal reasons to leave England behind, but they were also motivated by notions of duty, service, patriotism and, in Kipling's case, jingoism. Sarah LeFanu compellingly opens an unexplored chapter of these writers’ lives, at a turning point for Britain and its imperial ambitions. Was the South African War, as Kipling claimed, a dress rehearsal for the Armageddon of World War One? Or did it instead foreshadow the anti-colonial guerrilla wars of the later twentieth century? Weaving a rich and varied narrative, LeFanu charts the writers’ paths in the theatre of war, and explores how this crucial period shaped their cultural legacies, their shifting reputations, and their influence on colonial policy.

Prizes

Short-listed for Elizabeth Longford Prize for Historical Biography 2021 (UK)

'Through careful research and compelling writing, Sara LeFanu brings to life three great writers of the Victorian world and draws them together in a moment of imperial reconfiguration. … [Something of Themselves] succeeds in avoiding the predictability of conventional biography and helps us rethink the literary geographies of the period.'

-- Journeys journal

Sarah LeFanu's books include 'Rose Macaulay' and 'S is for Samora: A Lexical Biography of Samora Machel and the Mozambican Dream'. Formerly an editor at The Women’s Press, and artistic director of the Bath Literature Festival (2004–9), she regularly chairs events for the Bristol Festival of Ideas and Bristol Women’s Literature Festival and blogs at www.sarahlefanu.com.