THE SILENT WAR - SOUTH AFRICAN RECCE OPERATIONS 1969-1994. Peter Stiff

2006, reprinted. Soft cover; 608 pages. Very good condition. Tightly bound; neat and clean. Minor wear at corners of cover. Over 1kg.

This is a study of South African military operations during the apartheid years. It deals with all the top secret raids by Special Forces into surrounding African states, the political dynamics which led to them and the turbulent history of the times. This account tells not only the story of South Africa's Special Forces, it has also been described as the most important and frank history of South Africa itself during the apartheid years. Not only does it deal with military operations but it also explains the political dynamics that prompted them. It is wide ranging and covers the first counter-insurgency operations in Namibia in 1966, a commando raid on Dare-es-Salaam, the Fox Street Siege, South Africa's intervention into Angola in 1975 and subsequent pull-out, the rise of insurgency in Mozambique, South Africa's re-entry into Angola, strikes against SWAPO bases in Zambia, the training and assistance to UNITA, the fight against ZANLA and ZIPRA in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and how the Recces staffed Rhodesia's "D" Squadron SAS, the fall of Rhodesia, how the SAS and Selous Scouts were reformed as Recce units in South Africa, the selection and training of special forces, the raid against the ANC at Matola in Mozambique, South African assistance to RENAMO and Recce operations in Mozambique, Lesotho, Cabinda, Botswana and Zambia. It also deals in detail with the final days of apartheid South Africa and explains how close the country was to a right-wing coup d'etat.