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Can anybody recommend a good book about the history of the Rhodesian Bush War?
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Joined: Jun 2003
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Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Jun 2003
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Fire Force, the Selous Scouts start with those two. I have quite a few more, but I'm not at home
A good principle to guide me through life: “This is all I have come to expect, standard lackluster performance. Trust nothing, believe no one and realize it will only get worse…”
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Joined: Jul 2003
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Several good ones, my two favorites are:
Selous Scouts Top Secret War
A Handful of Hard Men (Rhodie SAS)
If you're looking for something more literary, MUKIWA, A White boy In Africa is great.
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Joined: Sep 2006
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Campfire Tracker
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+1 for the Selous Scouts, you talk about some guys who were tough.....
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Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
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I had a good customer that used to stop by my shop frequently. He had a bad stutter but he was a very smart guy with a tremendous knowledge of various topics. After getting to know him I found out that he was a former Selous scout and saw a lot of crazy stuff in Rhodesia back then. I always wondered if he stuttered as bad before Rhodesia or if Rhodesia and his time in Africa made it worse. He saw and did things that I am sure lived forever in his head.
�Politicians are the lowest form of life on earth. Liberal Democrats are the lowest form of politician.� �General George S. Patton, Jr.
--------------------------------------------------------- ~Molɔ̀ːn Labé Skýla~
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Joined: Dec 2006
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Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
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+1 for the Selous Scouts, you talk about some guys who were tough..... I stayed at one of their former officer's house near Chinoi for a couple of weeks in 2000. Rory Hensmen was one tough SOB. He eventually saw the writing on the wall and moved his family and trained elephants to SA. In SA the elephants were used to track down and run down poachers. Now SA is falling apart under black tribal rule. Graft and corruption there is just like it is in our major US cities. The same culture and lack of any moral sense will destroy both.
Hunt with Class and Classics
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Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
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I would also recommend one of the books written by Kevin Thomas, the PH I've hunted most with in Africa, Shadows in an African Twilight. The book isn't all about the Selous Scouts, but Kevin was one of the originals, and also went back and forth between PH'ing and military jobs through a stint as an "advisor" for the U.S. in the Middle East. ( www.kevindthomas.com)
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Campfire Member
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As others have said, The Selous Scouts is very good.
One other book I really enjoyed and recommend is See You in November by Peter Stiff. It deals with the later stages of the war, Mugabe’s ascension to power and the British plot to assassinate Mugabe in a very creative way, but their plot being vetoed by the U.S. when Jimmy Carter objected to the Brits killing Mugabe. Just another in the long line of really bad decisions by Carter.
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Campfire Member
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...A HANDFUL OF HARD MEN, Hannes Wessels. THE RHODESIAN WAR, fifty years on, Paul Moorcraft and Peter McLaughlin. PAMWE CHETE, Lt.Col. R.F.Reid-Daly. SELOUS SCOUTS, Lt.Col. Ron Reid-Daly (as told to Peter Stiff) THE ELITE, Rhodesian Special Air Service, Barbara Cole. BRITAIN'S REBEL AIR FORCE, Roy Nesbit & Dudley Cowderoy with Andrew Thomas. RHODESIANS NEVER DIE, Peter Godwin and Ian Hancock.
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Campfire Tracker
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The Great Betrayal by Ian Smith is also a great read.
The reason why Rhodesia became Zimbabwe is because the British Government and Queen Elizabeth thought they could deal with Mugabe easier than Ian. They wanted Rhodesia for themselves, so Harold Wilson sold Ian down the river at the cost of both the nation and thousands of White Rhodesians.
Asshats one and all.
Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum
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Campfire Regular
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I have a friend that was in the SAS and spent some time during that period in Rhodesia.
Regards,
Chuck
"There's a saying in prize fighting, everyone's got a plan until they get hit"
Ghost And The Darkness
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Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
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The Great Betrayal by Ian Smith is also a great read.
The reason why Rhodesia became Zimbabwe is because the British Government and Queen Elizabeth thought they could deal with Mugabe easier than Ian. They wanted Rhodesia for themselves, so Harold Wilson sold Ian down the river at the cost of both the nation and thousands of White Rhodesians.
Asshats one and all. Great read, as is Selous Scouts
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OP
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Thanks everyone for your recommendations
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Campfire Member
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I'd add two more.
The Rhodesian Civil War by John Frame which not only covers the Bush War but events going back to 1899 that led to it.
The second is Three Sips of Gin by Timothy Bax. He was a Canadian who became an officer in the Rhodesian Army and then was in the Selous Scouts.
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Campfire Outfitter
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Do you have a Kindle? Or a Kindle app on your phone or tablet? I have read a dozen or more I purchased from Amazon.
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Campfire Tracker
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What they gonna name the U. S. when we give it all over to them?
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Campfire Tracker
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What they gonna name the U. S. when we give it all over to them? North Venezuela
Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum
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