Cry Zimbabwe - Independence 20 Years On (09198540207)

Cry Zimbabwe - Independence 20 Years On (09198540207)

Author Peter Stiff, Published by Galago. Hardcover, 460 pages, Pre-owned Excellent condition. Near Mint.

Peter Stiffs Cry Zimbabwe covers the post-Bush War period of 1980-2000 and discusses a variety of internal and external affairs that occurred in the country over that period, including the farm invasion by war veterans, 5-Brigades rampage against the Ndebele, and the economic and political machinations of Mugabe and ZANU-PF to maintain power and promote their agenda.
The book is also obviously anti-Mugabe/ZANU-PF, but with this in mind it gives a good account of the atrocities and bunglings of the regime and mind-boggling depredations that its committed against its own population -black and white. Given that the author is an ex-Rhodesian he is naturally a bit light on the ex-Rhodies involved with post-independence attempts to destabilize the country, but again a healthy skepticism and an understanding of the bias goes a long way with any book.
Most interesting section was the first third of the book, which was ,surprisingly, dedicated to Operation Barnacle/D40 South Africas sponsorship of Rhodesian and ZIPRA elements to sabotage and sow discord in the early 1980s. This undoubtedly will make for a good precursor to reading Mr. Stiffs Warfare by Other Means which is devoted solely to South African covert operations of this type domestically during the 1980s.