Zulu Rising

A tale of Empire and War

By: Michael G. Thomas, Eric Meyer

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

1879. The British Empire marches into Zululand, and disaster.

Newly commissioned and untested, Second Lieutenant William Blackwood arrives from Monmouthshire to the wild frontier of South Africa, as Her Majesty’s forces prepare to crush the Zulu Kingdom. For Blackwood, it is meant to be the beginning of a proud military career: clean uniforms, sharp commands, and the steady march of empire. Instead, he finds confusion, chaos, and the first bitter lessons of war.

Tasked with reinforcing a remote column of British and colonial troops, Blackwood is plunged into a campaign of dust-choked marches, sudden ambushes, and brutal close-quarters fighting. The enemy is elusive, the terrain unforgiving, and his fellow officers divided by pride, ambition, and fear. Blackwood must win the respect of hardened soldiers, navigate fragile alliances with native auxiliaries, and lead men through a war where the rules change by the day, and survival is never guaranteed.

As the column pushes deeper into hostile territory, the line between duty and disaster narrows with every step. Honour must be earned in fire, and command demands sacrifices no training could prepare him for.

Zulu Rising is the gripping first instalment of Blackwood of the Empire, a sweeping historical saga of courage, leadership, and loyalty at the edge of the world. In the heart of empire’s ambition, one young officer must learn what it truly means to lead.

Who likes a “reader?

Here we have a potentially good story. The writing is somewhat pedantic, and the reading sounds like one of those old audiobooks which were just read, takes away from the story. Volume is also a problem, not recommended.