A Secret Burden - Edited by Karen Batley

This collection of poetry and prose, written by young, white South African conscripts deployed during the so-called ‘Border War’ in Angola and Namibia, provides an intimate, sometimes shocking, glimpse of an important era in our history which has hitherto been swept under the carpet.

Very few are aware of the sheer horror experienced by the young conscripts, or of the physical and emotional scars many of these ‘walking wounded’ carry to this day.

A Secret Burden constitutes a literal unburdening for those whose voices have been silenced for too long. According to Justice Yvonne Mokgoro, Judge of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, who wrote the foreword to this book, ‘… it is greatly to be hoped that this work can bring about more compassion and understanding in a country that desperately needs it.’

The works were collected and edited by Dr Karen Batley, a language consultant and writer, and former associate professor in the Department of English at the University of South Africa.

Title: A Secret Burden Memories of the Border War by South African soldiers who fought in it
Edited by: Karen Batley
ISBN: 978 1 86842 290 6
Format: Paperback
Pub Date: September
RRP: R130,00