The official history of the Anglo-Zulu Wars, compiled by the Intelligence Branch of the the then War Office for publication immediately after the campaign. It is the definitive account fo the Zulu Wars from the British standpoint and it has formed the basis of all subsequent serious works on the campaign. The narrative fully recounts through Military Intelligence sources the conduct of and background to the campaign - in terms of both military actions and political events. Of particular importance are the detailed accounts of the battles of Islandhlwana and Rorke s Drift - the first of which was the worst defeat inflicted on a British force by a native army, whose consequences would lead to the downfall of Disraeli s government; and the second of which resulted in the award of eleven Victoria Crosses, the most ever gained in a single action.