War in Africa by Al J Venter
Signed and dedicated on first page and again signed on title page by the Author Al J Venter.
War in Africa by Al J Venter.
Hardcover, ISBN 9780798103060
Publisher: Human & Rousseau, 1973
Condition: Very Good. DJ in fair condition, with rubbing, edgewear, creasing and tears. DJ has been covered with protective Cellophane sleeve. Book in very good condition. Light edgewear to boards. Some foxing to rear free endpaper and pastedown. Some foxing to edges of textblock. Internally bright and clean, a well bound copy.
The author covered most of these skirmishes in Africa during the time he spent reporting on the political and military scene in Africa. “The first of its kind ever produced: a first-hand insight into the black fighting man.” Liberally illustrated with b/w photographs.
Revolutionaries the world over quote the maxim coined by the Chinese leader Mao Tse-tung in the early 'thirties: that power grows out of the. barrel of a gun. This has been proved many times in the intervening years, especially in Africa. The first decade of independence in Africa was characterised by numerous extremes of violence and upheaval. In the majority of cases - Biafra, the Congo, Burundi, Zanzibar, Chad, and even pint-sized Lesotho - it was the man or group of men who could command pre ponderant arms who won the day. Most of these events made news, but as soon as initial interest waned, the majority were relegated to history - in spite of the fact that the Sudan war continued for more than fourteen years and that well over 100 000 people were massacred in tiny Burundi over a period of months in 1972. Although many people are aware that the African is well able to fight a tactical mobile war - the Biafran débâcle proved that - there are not many who know the implications of such military struggles. They have little idea how the black man reacts under fire; how he fights when his life depends on it or how he manages to continue to engage against modern, sophisticated armies in Southern Africa. Portugal has been at war against insurgent guerrillas for more than a decade in Angola and Portuguese Guinea, and almost as long in Mozambique. AI Venter has covered most of these conflagrations during the decade he has spent reporting on the political and military scene in Africa. Drawing on experience and his knowledge of con temporary Africa, he has compiled this book, which is the first of its kind ever produced: a first-hand insight into the black fighting man. War in Africa is liberally illustrated by photographs gathered from various sources over the years. Many of them were taken by the author himself.
185 pages including Appendices and Bibliography Many black-and-white photographs.
