The Defence of Rorke's Drift The Defence of Rorke's Drift The Defence of Rorke's Drift is an 1880 painting by Elizabeth Thompson, Lady Butler depicting the 1879 Battle of Rorke's Drift which took place during the Anglo-Zulu War of 1877 to 1879. The battle and the men who fought in it were made famous in the 1964 film "Zulu". The Battle of Rorke's Drift caused a wave of patriotic fever in the United Kingdom and the surviving participants, especially the officers, were feted on their return in October 1879, first going to Windsor Castle to meet Queen Victoria before posing for Elizabeth Thompson at Portsmouth
Washing of the Spears Washing of the Spears The Washing of the Spears is a 1965 book about the "Zulu Nation under Shaka" and the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879, written by Donald R. Morris. The first edition, published in 1966 is over 600 pages with detailed Bibliography. The book chronicles the rise of the Zulu nation under Shaka Zulu in the early 19th century and Chief Cetshwayo’s inevitable war with the British in 1879 as the colony of Natal pushed at the Zulu nation's borders. A second edition of the book titled The Washing of the Spears: The rise and fall of the Zulu