Bush War Rhodesia: 1966-1980

Book 14 of 28: Africa@War

It has been over four decades since the Union Jack was lowered on the colony of Rhodesia, but the bitter and divisive civil war that preceded it has continued to endure as a textbook counter-insurgency campaign. This conflict was fought between a mobile, motivated, and highly trained Rhodesian security establishment and two constituted liberation movements, motivated, resourced, and inspired by the ideals of communist revolution in the third world.

Historical Context

A complicated historical process of occupation and colonization set the tone as early as the late 1890s for what would, at some point, be an inevitable struggle for domination of this small, landlocked nation set in the southern tropics of Africa. The story of the Rhodesian War, or the Zimbabwean Liberation Struggle, is not only an epic of superb military achievement and revolutionary zeal and fervour, but also a tale of:

• The incompatibility of the races in southern Africa
• A clash of politics and ideals
• The ongoing ramifications of the past upon the present
• The social and political scars that a war of such emotional underpinnings as the Rhodesian conflict has had on the modern psyche of Zimbabwe.

The Nature of the Conflict

The Rhodesian War was fought with finely tuned intelligence-gathering and analysis techniques, combined with a fluid and mobile armed response. The practitioners of both have justifiably been celebrated in countless histories, memoirs, and campaign analyses. However, what has never been attempted is a concise, balanced, and explanatory overview of the war, the military mechanisms, and the social and political foundations that defined the crisis.

What This Book Offers

This book achieves what others have not. It explains the Rhodesian War in digestible detail and in a manner that allows enthusiasts of the elements of that struggle to embrace the wider picture. Key highlights include:

• Iconic exploits of the Rhodesian Light Infantry, the SAS, the Selous Scouts, the Rhodesian African Rifles, and the Rhodesia Regiment.
• Contextualizing various episodes of the war to provide a broader understanding of the conflict.

This book is essential for anyone interested in understanding the military mechanisms and social and political foundations that shaped one of the most complex struggles in southern Africa.

• 72 pages, 126 b/w photos, 10 b/w maps, 7 colour profiles, 4 color photos, 4 color maps