Zulu tactics and Victorian arrogance brought one of the British empire's worst defeats at Isandhlwana on January 22 1879, a rare triumph of spear over rifle.

The British administrators in South Africa who orchestrated the invasion of Zululand, having ignored the peace overtures of King Cetshwayo, considered his warriors no match for the Henry-Martini rifle.

Lord Chelmsford set up camp on a hill known as Isandhlwana but did not bother with defences, not thinking the Zulus would dare attack battalions of redcoats supported by colonial and native forces.

As Zulu decoys led much of Chelmsford's 5,000-strong force on a wild goose chase, the 20,000-strong Zulu army attacked the Isandhlwana camp, massacring more than 1,000 unprepared defenders.

In the book Zulu Victory the authors tell how Chelmsford, a friend of Queen Victoria, falsely claimed to have ordered Colonel Anthony Durnford (played by Burt Lancaster in the film Zulu Dawn) to defend the camp.

The book also suggests that some troops and officers abandoned their posts and that Chelmsford's biographer, Lord French, doctored a map to blame his native allies for allowing the Zulus to breach the lines.