Scapegoats of the Empire (Annotated)
Enriched Edition. A Boer War Memoir of Court Martial, Colonial Injustice, and the Bushveldt Carbineers TrialBy George Witton
Length7h 15m
About this audiobook
Scapegoats of the Empire is George Witton's forceful memoir of the Boer War and the notorious court-martial of the Bushveldt Carbineers, in which Harry "Breaker" Morant and Peter Handcock were executed while Witton's own death sentence was commuted. Written in a plain, urgent, and polemical style, the book blends eyewitness testimony, military narrative, legal protest, and imperial critique. Its literary context lies within early twentieth-century war memoirs that contest official histories, exposing the brutal ambiguities of guerrilla warfare and the moral evasions of empire. Witton was an Australian trooper whose service in South Africa placed him at the centre of one of the most controversial episodes in British imperial military justice. Imprisoned after conviction for murder, he wrote the book after his release in 1904 to vindicate himself and his comrades, arguing that colonial soldiers were punished for practices tolerated, encouraged, or ignored by higher command. His personal ordeal gives the work its intensity and its unmistakable defensive purpose. This book is recommended to readers interested in military history, colonial politics, legal injustice, and the literature of testimony. Though partisan, it remains an indispensable primary source: troubling, vivid, and essential for understanding how empires protect themselves by sacrificing inconvenient men.
This enriched edition has been carefully crafted to add value to your reading experience.
- Hand‐picked Memorable Quotes shine a spotlight on moments of literary brilliance.
- Interactive footnotes clarify unusual references, historical allusions, and archaic phrases for an effortless, more informed read.
Audiobook details
Rating★★★★ 4.4 (115)
Includes Amazon
GenreBiography and Memoir
Length7 hrs 15 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateDec 8, 2023
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1Scapegoats of the Empire (Annotated)
2INTRODUCTION.
3CHAPTER I.—VOLUNTEERING TO FIGHT "FOR THE EMPIRE."
4CHAPTER II.—THE VOYAGE TO AFRICA.
5CHAPTER III.—ROUND ABOUT BEIRA.
Show all chaptersShow less
6CHAPTER IV.—ON THE SICK LIST.
7CHAPTER V.—THE AUSTRALIANS IN CAPETOWN.
8CHAPTER VI.—COMMISSIONED IN THE BUSHVELDT. CARBINEERS.
9CHAPTER VII.—THE ORIGIN OF THE CARBINEERS.
10CHAPTER VIII.—WHAT LED TO THE TROUBLE.
11CHAPTER IX.—DEATH OF CAPTAIN HUNT.—MORANT'S. REPRISALS.
12CHAPTER X.—BY ORDER—"NO QUARTER!"
13CHAPTER XI.—MORANT'S CREDITABLE EXPLOIT.
14CHAPTER XII.—ORDERED FOR COURT-MARTIAL.
15CHAPTER XIII.—BEYERS—AND THE FLAG HE SLEPT ON.
16CHAPTER XIV.—FURTHER PROCEEDINGS OF COURT-MARTIAL.
17CHAPTER XV.—CLOSE OF THE VISSER CASE.
18CHAPTER XVI.—THE EIGHT BOERS CASE.
19CHAPTER XVII.—THE SECOND COURT-MARTIAL (Continued) .
20CHAPTER XVIII.—IN THE NAME OF JUSTICE!
21CHAPTER XIX.—THE GERMAN MISSIONARY CASE.
22CHAPTER XX.—EXECUTION OF MORANT AND HANDCOCK.
23CHAPTER XXI.—"IMPRISONMENT FOR LIFE!"
24CHAPTER XXII.—GAOL DISCIPLINE AND PRISON BLUNDERS.
25CHAPTER XXIII.—THE PETITION FOR RELEASE.
26CHAPTER XXIV.—THE LONG SUSPENSE.
27CHAPTER XXV.—FREEDOM AT LAST!
28THE END
29Memorable Quotes
More from George Witton
Send MeMarty Skovlund, Joe Kent8h 10m4.7 (1.6K)$26 · $0.00
John Muir: The Story of My Boyhood and Youth & Letters to a Friend (Annotated)John Muir10h 13m4.7 (1.1K)$1.99 · $0.00
Invisible StormJason Kander6h 48m4.7 (3.2K)$24 · $0.00
Forever BoyKate Swenson9h 27m4.7 (5K)$29 · $0.00
You Are Worth ItKyle Carpenter, Don Yaeger8h 53m4.7 (4.8K)$29 · $0.00
The Happiest Man on EarthEddie Jaku3h 48m4.6 (178K)$7 · $0.00
MotherlandJulia Ioffe17h 52m4.7 (2.5K)$40 · $0.00
Evidence Not SeenDarlene Deibler Rose11h 11m4.6 (11.9K)$29 · $0.00
Where Cowards Go to DieBenjamin Sledge8h 42m4.7 (351)$20 · $0.00
Will You Love Me?Cathy Glass9h 5m4.6 (9.3K)$29 · $0.00
Designing Terry Pratchett’s DiscworldPaul Kidby3h 52m4.7 (343)$20 · $0.00
HostageEli Sharabi5h 25m4.6 (10.8K)$24 · $0.00
Finding MeViola Davis9h 15m4.6 (256.4K)$29 · $0.00
The Dangerous Truth about Today’s MarijuanaLaura Stack CSP, MBA9h 57m4.7 (384)$20 · $0.00
Birdie & HarlowTaylor Wolfe7h 50m4.6 (6.5K)$26 · $0.00
The Lives of BrianBrian Johnson9h 45m4.6 (3.5K)$29 · $0.00
I Am The StormJanice Dean9h4.6 (1.5K)$8 · $0.00
Black History CollectionFrederick Douglass, Harriet Ann Jacobs, Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois27h 9m4.6 (2.6K)$18 · $0.00
Just as I AmCicely Tyson16h 8m4.6 (99K)$33 · $0.00
Unbroken Bonds of BattleJohnny Joey Jones8h 31m4.6 (2.6K)$8 · $0.00
You may also like
The Great TerrorRobert Conquest30h 35m4.3 (2.9K)$39
Alexandre Dumas: The Count of Monte Cristo & The Three MuskateersAlexandre Dumas75h 17m4.5 (4.6K)$95 · $0.00
The True Story of Andersonville PrisonJames Madison Page6h 3m4.1 (376)$1 · $0.00
House BloodMike Lawson12h 33m4.3 (1.6K)$23
The True Story of Andersonville Prison: A Defense of Major Henry WirzJames Madison Page6h 4m4.3 (417)$2 · $0.00
Freaky DeakyElmore Leonard8h 41m3.9 (6.5K)$26 · $0.00
Age of ViceDeepti Kapoor19h 28m3.7 (51.7K)$40 · $0.00
Falling GlassAdrian McKinty9h 39m4.1 (3.7K)$20
History of Julius CaesarJacob Abbott4h 43m3.9 (1.3K)$6 · $0.00
DeadlockSean Black8h 7m4.2 (1.3K) Only with Ultra
HellenicaXenophon13h 23m4.2 (4.6K)Free
ManhuntJames L. Swanson15h 34m4.3 (53.1K)$33 · $0.00
My Fourth Time, We DrownedSally Hayden13h 59m4.6 (2.9K)$23 · $0.00
Sons of War 4: SoldiersNicholas Sansbury Smith, Tom Abrahams12h 54m4.6 (507)$25
Fire in the EastHarry Sidebottom14h 30m4.0 (4.6K)$25
Scapegoats of the EmpireGeorge Witton7h 12m4.2 (295)$1 · $0.00
The Complete Western Stories of Elmore LeonardElmore Leonard6h 49m4.3 (4K)$24 · $0.00
Oil and MarbleStorey, Stephanie11h 13m4.2 (13.8K)Free
Julius CaesarWilliam Shakespeare2h 4m3.7 (235K)$15 · $0.00
The Trident DeceptionRick Campbell14h 49m4.2 (4.3K)$23 · $0.00