Although the concentration camps of the South African War have been so important for Afrikaners, few academics have looked at them seriously. This lecture looks at the reasons for this and explores some of the major features of the camps. The camps gained their notoriety because of the high mortality, especially of the children. Modern research in the social history of medicine enables us to understand more fully why so many children died. The revelations of Emily Hobhouse led to major changes and the lecture will also look at the way in which the lives of the people were altered during the last months of the South African War.