Fireforce: One Man's War in the Rhodesian Light Infantry |
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Chris Cocks
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Pages: 368 (Paperback)
ISBN: 0958489092
Pub: 30 Degrees South Publishers
Pub date: 2006-04-30
Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 151500
Reader Reviews:
Brilliant (0/0 people found this helpful)
This is one of the best books avaliable on the Rhodesian war. Couldn't put it down, it's well written and i would recommend this to anyone.
A must for anyone interested in the Rhodesian War (0/0 people found this helpful)
A very personal and moving account of a young man's experience of war. I could not put it down and found it graphic and deeply honest. There is no rosy glamorising of conflict. This is a great book about a forgotten war.
A great book, deserves to be read widely (16/16 people found this helpful)
This is a deeply moving factual account. There will be many, who served in the RLI at that time, who will find in this book a frank and raw expression of the emotions that they experienced. The book takes the reader through three years of life in the RLI. Every aspect, from the moments of exhilaration and unadulterated mischief to the adrenalin and blood soaked emotions of the action, is captured in a humble unaffected narrative. The ferocity of the RLI, the pride, the moments of shame, the fear and above all the sorrow for lives wasted and shattered on both sides - Chris Cocks recalls it for us all with startling clarity. We get to know the people he knew and are shocked at the demise of many of them. Few appear to get through totally unscathed.
I find myself picking the book up time and time again and re-reading passages. The photographs remind the reader that these were real experiences thrust upon real people, young people, many of whom shared his subsequent disillusion and struggled to find a place in normal society afterwards.
For anyone who served, beware! this book will stir up long suppressed memories, but this book deserves a much wider audience. It is a powerful reminder of the follies of war.
The devastating success of the fireforce tactic relied on the identification of targets. "Pamwe Chete" by Ron Reid-Daly (available through Amazon)is a fascinating insight into the methods of the Selous Scouts, who operated in the murky secret world of infiltration, so successful that the fireforces operated by the RLI couldn't keep up. Read one or both, you'll be staggered.
Essential Reading ! (5/5 people found this helpful)
An utterly compelling read about the authors time in the RLI during the Rhodesian bush war. Sad, funny, touching, and most of all, brutally honest, the book has it all ! If you enjoyed Mukiwa, you'll definitely like this.
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Categories
Amazon.co.uk places this book into the following categories:
Books -> Subjects -> History -> Countries & Regions -> Africa -> Southern -> Zimbabwe
Books -> Subjects -> History -> General
Books -> Refinements -> Language (feature_browse-bin) -> English
Books -> Refinements -> Age (feature_two_browse-bin)
Books -> Refinements -> Format (binding_browse-bin) -> Paperback
Books -> Refinements -> Condition (condition-type)