My Early Life

A significant portion of the book covers his experiences in the Second Boer War of 1899-1902 which he had earlier described in London to Ladysmith via Pretoria (1900) and Ian Hamilton's March (1900). It also includes descriptions of other campaigns he had previously written about: The River War (1899), concerning the reconquest of Sudan, and The Story of the Malakand Field Force (1898) in today's Pakistan. The book begins by describing his childhood and schooldays, and provides context for the earlier accounts.