Guerilla: Colonel von Lettow-Vorbeck and Germany's East African Empire

In the summer of 1914, Major Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck was the commander of the German Protective Force in German East Africa, with a mere 2,000 troops -- most of them Black Askaris -- and weapons that dated back to the Franco-Prussian War of the 1870's. When World War I began in August, Governor Heinrich Schnee surrendered to the British at Dar-es-Salaam, but von Lettow refused to accept the surrender. Instead he took up arms against the British, and after the war was over, it was evident he could have beaten the British in Africa if the Germans had not lost in Europe (from the dustjacket flap).