Christmas top Five

Our Christmas top Five are:

Merry Christmas

From Fledgling to Eagle

The crucible of combat over 23 years forged the fledgling South African Air Force into a formidable strike weapon, capable of defeating the best Soviet air defences of the time.

From Fledgling to Eagle chronicles the evolution of the SAAF in the ‘Border War’ that raged in Angola and South West Africa (Namibia) from 1966 to 1989, covering all the major South African Defence Force (SADF) operations from Omgulumbashe to the ‘April Fool’s Day war’ in 1989. Dick Lord, who writes in a ‘from the cockpit’ style, has drawn on his own first-hand operational reports and diaries, incorporating anecdotes from dozens of aviators from a wide variety of squadrons—Buccaneers, Canberras, Mirages, Bosboks, C-160s and130s and helicopters. He also expands on the close relationship the SAAF had with the ground troops in a variety of operations— such units as the Parabats, Recces and Koevoet. >>Read More<<

Out Of Action

Originally published as Survival Course in 1999, now long out of print, Out of Action is a reworked and updated edition, the sequel to the best-selling Fireforce—one man’s war in the Rhodesian Light Infantry. The book is divided into two distinct parts:

Part 1, ‘War’, chronicles Chris Cocks’s final 16 months of combat in the Rhodesian bush war, as a stick leader in PATU, the Police Ant-Terrorist Unit. It is a time of unbelievable cruelty as the part-time white reservists battle overwhelming odds, without air support and … without a future, as Mugabe’s ZANLA guerrillas swamp the country in the build-up to independence in 1980

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The Train of Salt and Sugar.

“Richly poetic, a significant find for southern African literature”
Paul Ash, Sunday Times

Moving and poignant, The Train of Salt and Sugar follows a train and its passengers on their harrowing and often violent journey—a journey of self-discovery, and of pain, hunger, death and love. Out of every conflict situation comes a myriad of stories, stories about people, set against the backdrop of war. During the bitter and protracted Mozambican civil war there are many such stories, but none so courageous nor so passionate and beautiful as that told in The Train of Salt and Sugar.

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Delta Scout

Delta Scout was the call sign for Tony Trethowan’s Ground Coverage ‘stick’ during the Rhodesian bush war of the late seventies. This is the story of an ordinary policeman, a young man who signed up with the British South Africa Police as a raw 18 year old and who was to serve eight years with that fine force.

As a young Patrol Officer, he was to experience rural life in remote stations in the bush of Matabeleland. He embraced the experience and learned Sindebele within a few months. The book is richly interspersed with anecdotes of wild frontier life—of rowdy prospectors, obstreperous farmers, maverick hunters and bizarre eccentrics. He deals with a wide array of crimes and incidents—from murder, tribal suicide, sorcery, robbery and drunkenness to horrific vehicle accidents. >>Read More<<

Manzovo

A beautiful , astonishing 107-verse poem...

Nestled like a rare jewel in the inhospitable but alluring Zambezi Valley, Mana Pools provides the early setting for the episodic story of Manzovo—place of the elephants.

Thandi, now at the height of her prime, is the astute and respected matriarchal head of a herd of elephants. She gives birth to Lesedi—the last of her five calves—and thus begins their sweeping journey through the bushveld and across the open vistas of southern Africa. >>Read more<<

Merry Christmas