I've often selected books in the 100 Objects series to review based on my personal interest in various figures and events in history. This one, however, is something I know next to nothing about.

The war from 1899-1902, according to South African History Online, "remains the most terrible and destructive modern armed conflict in South Africa's history" and "marked the end of the long process of British conquest of South African societies." Fueled in part by politics, colonialism and the discovery of gold, the war pitted Great Britain against two Boer (Afrikaner) republics: the South African Republic and the Orange Free State. Although Britain was victorious in the end, it was the most costly war the British would fight in the century between the Napoleonic Wars and World War I.

It is simple enough to read up on the history of any given conflict -- which, to do this review, I did -- but 100 Objects helps the reader to understand a topic by giving it context and illustrating day-to-day artifacts of the period in question. This collection was compiled by the War Museum of the Boer Republics in Bloemfontein, South Africa, which is uniquely poised to tell this story.

This book chooses its artifacts wisely, showing readers the flags and photos, rifles and swords, coded messages, conference tables and ceremonial inkwells that played a part in the drama. There's a cup made from the shell casing of the first round fired at Kraaipan, a British soldier's snuffbox found on the battlefield, a brooch fashioned from a piece of a Boer projectile fired at the Siege of Kimberley, a spade used by a Scottish soldier at Magersfontein and a pendant made from a bit of British grapeshot shrapnel.

The book contains a detailed historical narrative, but the focus is on the pictures and the details provided in each caption. Like the tin of chocolate sent by Queen Victoria to all of her soldiers in South Africa; the surprising twist is that a young Mohandas Gandhi, who founded the National Indian Ambulance Corps before his later struggle for Indian independence, objected because none of the Indian volunteers received the queen's generosity.

There are ample examples of clothing, weapons and battlefield accessories, pocket watches, tea sets and war-time souvenirs, bone fragments removed from a wounded soldier and preserved, an ornate mantel clock that survived a farmhouse fire. Perhaps the most heart-breaking items are from the concentration camps that cropped up during the war, including children's clothing and toys, such as dolls and marbles.

The photographs and accompanying information in this book are extremely well organized and presented. This was a learning experience that will stick with me.