John Laband

John Laband
Born	(1947-03-18)18 March 1947 Johannesburg, South Africa
Died	5 August 2025(2025-08-05) (aged 78) Greyton, South Africa
Known for	Historian and writer
Scientific career
Fields	Anglo-Zulu and Boer wars
Institutions	Wilfrid Laurier University

John Paul Clow Laband (18 March 1947 – 5 August 2025) was a South African historian and writer, specialising in Anglo-Zulu and the First and Second Freedom Wars (Afrikaans: Eerste- en Tweede Vryheidsoorlog). He taught at universities in South Africa, England, and Canada. In particular, he was Professor of History at Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada, and a Research Associate of the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

Life and career

Laband published many books about the military history of Southern Africa and the history of the Zulu nation and the Anglo-Zulu war of 1879 in particular. He was most lately Professor Emeritus at Wilfrid Laurier University, and was made a Life Member of Clare Hall, Cambridge University, England.

Laband died on 5 August 2025, at the age of 78.

Bibliography (not exhaustive)

• Fight Us in the Open; The Anglo-Zulu War Through Zulu Eyes, Pietermaritzburg, 1985
• Kingdom in Crisis: The Zulu Response to the British Invasion of 1879, 1992
• Isandlwana, KwaZulu Monuments Council series, 1992
• Lord Chelmsford's Zululand Campaign 1878–1879, Army Records Society, 1994
• Rope of Sand: The Rise and Fall of the Zulu Kingdom in the Nineteenth Century, 1995, Jonathan Ball Publishers SA,
• The Illustrated Guide to the Anglo-Zulu War, 2000, with Paul Thompson, University of KwaZulu-Natal Press,
• The Atlas of the Later Zulu Wars, 1883–1888, 2001, University of KwaZulu-Natal Press,
• The Transvaal Rebellion: The First Boer War 1880–1881, Taylor & Francis Ltd,
• The Battle of Majuba Hill: The Transvaal Campaign, 1880–1881, Helion & Company,
• Daily Lives Of Civilians in Wartime Africa, 2007,
• Historical Dictionary of the Zulu Wars, Scarecrow Press,
• Zulu Warriors: The Battle for the South African Frontier, Yale University Press,
• The assassination of King Shaka, Jonathan Ball Publishers SA,
• Zulu Identities: Being Zulu, Past and Present, with Benedict Carton and Jabulani Sithole, C Hurst & Co Publishers Ltd,
• The eight Zulu kings: From Shaka to Goodwill Zwelithini, Jonathan Ball Publishers SA,
• The Fall of Rorke's Drift: An Alternate History of the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879, Greenhill Books,
• Bringers of War, Pen & Sword Books Ltd,
• The A to Z of the Zulu Wars, Scarecrow Press,
• with Timothy J. Stapleton, Encyclopedia of African Colonial Conflicts, 2 volumes, ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara, California, 2016

Further reading

• John Gooch, The Boer War: Direction, Experience, and Image, University of Leeds, p. 107-126, 2000
• Adrian Greaves, The Tribe That Washed Its Spears: The Zulus at War, Pen & Sword Military, 2013
• Harold E. Raugh, Jr., Anglo-Zulu War, 1879: A Selected Bibliography, Scarecrow Press, 2011
• Stephen M. Miller, Soldiers and Settlers in Africa: 1850 – 1918, 2009
• Keith Smith, Dead Was Everything: Studies in the Anglo-Zulu War, Frontline Books, 2014

External links

• encyclopedia.com article
• Author page on Pen and Sword
• Library of Congress [1]