(Part 2) Best historical african biographies according to redditors

Few months ago, there was a similar question at War College, though related to Uganda, see thread How does the Ugandan Army compare to its neighbors?

I agree with your conclusion that African Wars - like II Congo War - are usually discussed from the geo-political POV, very rarely from military POV. Exceptions are rather rare, regardless if it's about pre- or post-1990s, and so also in the case of such wars like that in Rwanda, or the I and II Congo Wars. For example, while there are dozens of books, and thousands of studies and articles about Rwanda, all I know - without a single exception - are dealing with the genocide of 1994. Until recently (see below) there was not one about military history of the Rwandan Civil War, 1990-1994. Similarly, books like those by Prunier are 'well known', while those discussing military campaigns appear 'non-existing'.

Now, instead of explaining whys and hows, let me come to the point, i.e. offer you a few reading tips. Since you've explicitly requested 'post 1990 Africa', in your place I would start with John W Turner's Continent Ablaze. Yes, about 95% of that book is about pre-1990s, i.e. 'classic African wars', and post-1990s chapters are limited to those about Angola, actually. Furthermore, a lot of Turner's work is based on little else but reporting by BBC's Foreign Monitoring Service and similar 'sources'. But, you'll learn a lot about most of reasons for post-1990s wars. Plus, it's one of less than a handful of books covering African wars one can find in libraries of such places like Sandhurst, so I would describe it as a 'good starter'. If nothing else, it's going to help you find out what wars do you want to follow closely.

Casual search around the internet might bring you to various books by Al J Venter, a veteran South African author of works like War Dog, Gunship Ace, or Barrel of a Gun. These are including a great deal of 'episodes' related to South African mercenaries in places like Congo, Sierra Leone, Angola etc. Al was in all of these places, and is personally befriended to most of crucial actors, and thus simply 'unbeatable' in regards of 'details'. What one might miss in his books though, would be for these stories to be put within their geopolitical and military context, i.e. a slightly better organization of all the data they're presenting. But then, that's simply a matter of taste.

Still, if you follow 'Al's trail', you might stumble into a small South African publisher titled 30 Degrees South - and thus find out this has published a number of titles penned by Eeben Barlow.

Clearly, while Barlow is well-known (or at least 'Executive Outcomes' is going to ring plenty of bells here, so I'm sure), his top military planners and tacticians like Roelf van Heerden and Andrew Hudson remain entirely unknown in the public - although at least the latter has published a number of his own titles, mostly via 30 Deg South (just check their website).

Further search for the latter might bring you to a series of books published in cooperation between 30 Deg South and Helion Publishing (UK) since some 6-7 years and appropriately titled 'Africa@War'. They've released about 25 titles so far. Of course, majority of these went into 'classic' topics from the 1960s-1980s - i.e. those related to South Africa, Rhodesia, Portuguese campaigns in the Guine, Angola, or mercenaries in the Congo etc. But, meanwhile they've brought out quite a number of titles about 'other' African wars out, and especially those about conflicts since 1990s - including such like Somalia, US Intervention, 1992-1994, or the much postponed AMISOM.

Guess, this is the point at which I must beg admins for some more of their understanding (perhaps even some 'sympathy'), then because of my own involvement the following is going to appear as another post full of 'shameless self-advertising'. Namely, I do happen to have researched quite a lot about modern-day African wars (often with help from kind people like Andrew, Al and many others) and so I have joined the gang of Africa@War and published several titles in that series, often in cooperation with my Swiss friend Adrien Fontanelaz. That's how an entire series of books explaining the military history of conflicts related to the II Congo War came into being, including:

• Wars and Insurgencies of Uganda, 1971-1994 (story of the Ugandan military build-up through 1960s and 1970s; the Kagera War of 1978-1979, and of various insurgencies of the 1980s and 1990s, some of which in turn were instrumental for the following volume)
  
  
• The Rwandan Patriotic Front, 1990-1994 (wars in Ugandas proved crucial for what happened in Rwanda of the early 1990s; namely, already Museveni's NRA was heavily dependent on hundreds of Rwandan Tutsis, who in turn created the Rwandan Patriotic Front and invaded Rwanda in 1990, launching a civil war that... well, is de-facto still going on, 'but', kind of 'culminated' with the genocide of 1994)
  
  
• Great Lakes Holocaust: I Congo War, 1996-1997 (in 1996, Rwanda, followed by Uganda, launched an invasion of the then Zaire, eventually toppling US/French-supported dictator Mobutu Sese-Seko; this is the story of that conflict), and
  
  
• Great Lakes Conflagration: II Congo War, 1998-2003 (in 1998, Rwanda and Uganda launched their second invasion of the DR Congo, this time attempting not only to topple President Kabila, but also establish themselves in control over immense mineral wealth in the east of that country; this in turn prompted a counter-intervention by Zimbabwe, Angola, Namibia - and even Libyan-sponsored Chad, plus few other countries; what is next-to-unknown is that this war kind of 'faded away' not only because of highly-published series of major clashes between Ugandans and Rwandans related to distribution of the loot, but especially because the Congolese began applying the same strategy upon Rwandans, which Rwandans used to apply on the Congolese, early during that war).
  
  I did originally intend to follow-up with a third volume on the DR Congo since 2003, but sad point is: as much as they are praised by all of their readers, the latter remain very limited in numbers. My understanding of the reasons is that these books are neither sensationalist, nor discussing usual topics like mass suffering of civilians, but rather dry military histories of conflicts in question. And since majority of potential readers cannot imagine - just for example - Zimbabweans deploying their adaptation of Rhodesian 'Fire Force tactics' in the centre of the DR Congo of 1998, they never come to the idea that there are any kind of books discussing such topics. Unsurprisingly, I doubt we've sold more than 500 copies of any of these titles, which in turn means they simply do not pay. For similar reasons, I dropped the idea of preparing similar volumes on topics like Sudan or Chad, just for example. Slightly more successful was the Libyan Air Wars mini-series (3 titles); that might eventually 'provoke' me to ready a title (or two) on 'Libya since 2011' (there're certainly enough sources and info, especially thanks to research by Arnaud Delalande). We'll see...
  
  Fans of obscure (indeed: often enough 'weird') air forces and their (frequently: 'colourful') aircraft have found the two-part study African MiGs slightly more interesting (indeed, even the library at Wright Patterson should have a copy of each). Except for discussing acquisitions and operational history of its title, it's also providing - often quite lengthy - summaries of local air forces at wars, so also those since 1990 (just for example, I do not know any other book discussing COIN ops by the Ugandan People's Defence Force/Air Force against Lord's Resistance Army since 2000). 'Bonus', if you like: Volume 2 ends with a big appendix providing a detailed ORBAT of 23 African air forces as of 2010 (with exception of Mozambique and Mali, not much changed ever since).

Thanks man, appreciate that.

Ja I have read several books on the war, I'll list them all so you can maybe pick one up one day.

The South African Border War 1966-1989 by Leopold Scholtz - I highly recommend this book. This is the book that really got me to understand the overall picture of the war although reading the other books and online material as well as speaking to relatives that fought in the war helped fill in the gaps for me.

32 Battalion by Piet Nortje - This book is also excellent. Goes into a lot of detail about personal accounts and experiences of members of 32 Battalion. They were tough buggers, 32Bn was made up of many Angolan nationals that were once part of the FNLA but were cut off and abandoned by their leader Holden Roberto so Jan Breytenbach trained them and thus 32 Battalion was born. Sad what happened to these poor guys after the war... The ANC just prior to coming to power demanded they be disbanded 1993. There is footage of their last parade and disbandment on Youtube. They were real battle hardened soldiers... They deserved better.

Zulu Zulu Foxtrot by Arn Durand - This is a book about his experience in the police COIN unit called Koevoet. These okes were hard as nails driving Casspirs over the enemy insurgents and tied them to their vehicles after killing them. Brutal... There is no such thing as a gentleman's war. No side played fair. SWAPO conducted many atrocities and Koevoet did the same. So it is futile for either side to claim evil yet SWAPO often complained to the UN about Koevoet and when South Africa complained to the UN about SWAPO atrocities which fell on deaf ears. The political bias was clearly evident and is revealed and mentioned many times in every book I've listed here.

Teenage Safari by Evan Davies the memoirs of a 61 Mech mortar man. 61 Mech was South Africa's iron fist our primary mechanized unit. They were the ones that smashed the Angolan and Cubans on the ground time and time again. They were primarily used for conventional battles although they did see some action against SWAPO as well which was almost exclusively COIN/guerrilla warfare.

LZ HOT! by Nick Lithgow - Memoirs of a South African Air Force helicopter pilot. He flew SAAF Alouette III gunships as well as Puma and Atlas Oryx transport helicopters. He also did a stint on the border as part of the infantry prior to receiving pilot training IIRC.

Eye of the Firestorm by Roland de Vries - This is a long one... The memoirs of a Commander of 61 Mech. There is a lot more to say about this book but my comment is getting quite long! It's very detailed and goes into the whole history of 61 Mech and the overall war itself. Though is quite complicated to read at times due to the complex nature of the war and all the operations, units involved and so on.

Recce by Koos Stadler - A book about the Recces (South African Special Forces) and Koos Stadler a very renowned Recce. The accomplishments and actions of the Recces are something else entirely... Ranging from sitting right inside enemy camps to gather intel for weeks if not months on end. To directing artillery and airstrikes strikes over enemy positions deep inside Angola, cutting off supply lines to destroying the SWAPO headquarters, shooting down Russian transport aircraft such as Antonov AN-12's with Soviet officers on board. There are many insane stories about the Recces a truly hard bunch as well as a small unit being only a few hundred members strong IIRC.

Mobility Conquers: The Story of 61 Mechanised Battalion Group 1978-2005 by Willem Steenkamp (Author), Helmoed-Römer Heitman (Author) - Haven't read this one either also very expensive! But apparently a very in depth book about South African mobile warfare doctrine during the Border War.

Mobile Warfare for Africa by Roland de Vries - Haven't read this either but should be a good one since Roland de Vries is one of the founding fathers of South African mobile warfare doctrine and tactics during the Border War.

Bill Burns has a new one out that is excellent. https://www.amazon.com/Back-Channel-American-Diplomacy-Renewal/dp/0525508864/

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Prudence Bushnell's book is also excellent. https://www.amazon.com/Terrorism-Betrayal-Resilience-Embassy-Bombings/dp/1640121013/

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Not a career FSO, but I also really liked Wendy Sherman's book. https://www.amazon.com/Not-Faint-Heart-Lessons-Persistence/dp/156858816X/

An unpopular war - from afkak to bosbefok

It's about the war and feature many true short stories. Some funny some tearful some shocking but it's excellent and I would recommend.

Edit: http://www.amazon.co.uk/An-Unpopular-War-Bosbefok-Servicemen/dp/1770073019 link!

Two good reads on him رحمه الله:

Commander of the Faithful: The Life and Times of Emir Abd el-Kader: A Story of True Jihad https://www.amazon.com/dp/1901383318/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_AyL9AbX0W6NAQ

Emir Abd el-Kader: Hero and Saint of Islam (Perennial Philosophy) https://www.amazon.com/dp/1936597179/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_GAL9AbPB2RV73

There are numerous credible sources on Mansa Musa. Here are a few that took me all of 4 minutes to locate online, just in case you were actually interested in the knowledge. If not, please don't troll on this page.

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Musa-I-of-Mali
https://www.amazon.com/Mansa-Musa-Empire-James-Oliver-ebook/dp/B00EVA5J60
https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/musa-mansa

Check this out, seems good: http://www.academia.edu/download/28809484/aeq.2001.32.3.350.pdf

Wikipedia can lead to other great resources while giving a solid foundation; check these:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madrasa

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ijazah

This book is written by an incredibly credible scholar of today, about one of the most important scholars of Islam:

https://www.amazon.com/Abu-Hanifah-Legal-Method-Legacy-ebook/dp/B00CGNQGAC/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1486804011&sr=8-3&keywords=abu+hanifa

And from me:

Anywhere you look in the past, I think credentials as we know them today mattered very little. Most people lived in small, tightly knit communities; everyone knew that the local blacksmith was great at making swords, but not as skillful at small things like fixing key or whatever.

People would know their fellow people, because population was so low. For example, they would know that town's baker makes delicious croissants, but his cakes are rather plain. If someone foreign came to the town, he would have to earn the trust of the people, maybe 'testimonials' from someone qualified of the town.

Just some small thought, hope it helped :)

Hi u/DanKensington! Sorry for the delay in reply. I was between conferences and I was also trying to do more research on black troops in the SADF as a few others have been asking about this as well.

As dagaboy pointed out, I did address this to some degree here but I'll throw in a quick reply anyway. (Also, thanks for bringing to my attention Pessimals' work, very interesting. I'll look into learning more about it!)

So, Pessimal is largely correct but it's a bit more nuanced than that. I would advise picking up copies of Blake's Troepie: From Call-Up to Camps and JH Thompson's An Unpopular War to read accounts of the war as told by the troepies (Afrikaans slang for Border War soldiers) which do mention their feelings on their black comrades. I have also interviewed several white, SADF veterans in the past and they have said similar things to this:

Effectively, once a soldier was past basics and was deployed on foreign soil (which was usually considered north South-West Africa (SWA - today Namibia) and Angola) and had experienced a bit of army life on the Border, and some combat for good measure, you learnt to trust the man who had your back, regardless of skin colour or creed. But, like I said, it was a bit more nuanced than that.

You had white soldiers who never had a problem with race in the first place and were fine with black soldiers, and even happier for it in some cases. You had some who changed their views whilst on deployment as, for many of them, it would be the first time they would be directly and regularly interacting with a black man, let alone fighting back-to-back with him. And, of course, there were those who stayed racist regardless. An interesting point is that some of this latter category would treat the black men they fought with with amazing civility and even respect on the Border, but would go right back to their old ways when at home. Cultural and systemic racism is a large part of Border War socio-military studies.

But there were also many different nationalities of black soldier - there were those from South Africa, SWA, Angola, Botswana and even Rhodesia (today Zimbabwe). And many of the white troepies treated each nationality different depending on their own personal affiliation or understanding. Bear in mind that many of the troepies were young conscripts of no more than 18 years of age, so this was a whole new world of war and experiences.

That's ground level, at the upper echelons of SADF command, much effort was made to make the SADF seem "inclusive" as the war progressed. See, the SADF had this awful reputation worldwide (and locally) as a dog of the Apartheid government, only used to enforce racial segregation at home and abroad. So, to attempt to dispel this, part of their carefully constructed propaganda campaigns involved showing how they integrated multiple religions, sports and races into the SADF structure which included black, coloured, Indian, and Asian persons. Part of this was partial integration into certain battalions where they saw regular combat - however, much of the actual usage of black SA and SWA troepies was in logistics. Angolan soldiers were mostly used in guerrilla or information gathering capacities by the SADF.

Many veterans today (white and black) talk fondly of their brothers-in-arms, and even of their enemies, and even though many will be outright racist and contemptuous of modern blacks, they will state their comrades were cut from a different cloth and will treat them equally.

It's very nuanced and fascinating how race played a role in SADF operations.

Anyway, apologies that this became longer than intended, but I hope that helps answer your question somewhat!

Sorry that it took me 5 days to make this reply, but I honor my promises (thanks to /u/nixons_nose). So here are the other books:

• The Emperor: Downfall of an Autocrat, written by the famed Polish correspondent Ryszard Kapuscinski, is about the waning days of the last Ethiopian Emperor, Haile Selassie I (also known as Ras Tafari). This is a really compelling read.
  
• Another book on Emperor Haile Selassie, King of Kings: The Triumph and Tragedy of Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia offers a more complete and balanced view of the Emperor. Must be read along with Kapuscinski's book.
  
• Gebru Tariki's The Ethiopian Revolution: War in the Horn of Africa tells us of the rise and fall of the socialist dictatorship that replace Selassie's empire, the Derg and Mengistu eras.
  
• Tom Cooper's Wings over Ogaden: The Ethiopian-Somali War, 1978-1979 chronicles a little-known episode of the Cold War era (I'd use "saga" over "era", it sounds better.), the Ogaden War. Nice to see books on African wars, because they are usually ignored and overlooked. Must-read.
  
• Lastly, for a general history of Ethiopia, this book fits the bill: Harold Marcus' A History of Ethiopia Updated Edition.
  
  I hope these books will help you. ;)
  
  EDIT: Added bullets and a link.
  
  
  

Checked out my shelf, I didn't want to recommend the ones that I started years ago and never finished. Some are of people escaping war or religion, others are of people traveling and helping third world communities. My poor descriptions don't give the books justice.


When Broken Glass Floats First person account of surviving the Khmer Rouge

The Road of Lost Innocence Woman who escaped sex slavery in Cambodia returns to create a charity to help exploited women and children.

In the Land of Invisible Women British born female Muslim doctor is denied a visa to remain in the US and goes to Saudi Arabia to work. She writes about the culture shock.

Land of a Thousand Hill Woman arrives in Africa in 1949 and spends 50 years in Rwanda. She writes about her friendship with Dian Fossey and the buildup to the genocide. She gets evacuated and returns at the age of 82 to rebuild her home and help orphans.

Left to Tell Young woman returns home to Rwanda to visit family just before the death of the president. She writes about surviving the genocide by spending months hiding in a bathroom with other women.

I Shall Not Hate Palestinian doctor write about his life in the Gaza strip and how he worked in Israeli hospitals. Says that anger is different than hate and even with all he's been through, believes both sides need to talk and unite.

Wine to Water Bartender creates events to raise money and awareness to the world's fresh water crisis, but upon traveling to Sudan, realizes it'll take more than just money. He makes it his mission to travel to remote areas to hire and teach locals how to repair and maintain wells.

Find Me Unafraid American spends a semester abroad in Kibera, the largest slum in Africa, and falls in love with a local. Together, they create a free school for young girls and work on programs to bring other services to the area.

Little Princes Man volunteers at orphanage in Nepal and learns that most children were taken from their families and abandoned. He makes it his duty to reunite as many as he can.

Between two Worlds Journalist is falsely accused of espionage and is forced to spend 8 years in a prison in Tehran.

In Order to Live Young girl and mother escape North Korea and get sold into sex slavery in China before being able to escape and search for family in South Korea.

Troublemaker Leah Remini's experience of growing up in Scientology and leaving as an adult.

About Jonestown-

A Thousand Lives Author has reviewed declassified documents and puts together a story about the lives of the people there and about the few who survived.

Seductive Poison Written by a high level member who escaped just before the massacre.

About the FLDS-

Stolen Innocence Forced to marry her cousin at age 14, she later escapes and plays a key role in the trial against Warren Jeffs

Church of Lies A 'brutal and unflinching look' at the abuse in the community. She escapes and tries to rescue other young girls.

The Witness Wore Red This woman was the 19th wife of the prophet.

Escape Married to a high member, she escapes with her 8 kids.

Prophet's Prey Written by a private investigator who spent 7 years helping members and trying to bring down Warren Jeffs. Also a documentary. Worth a watch if the subjects interests you.

Yes, 32 battalion was mixed. You should read My Friend the Mercenary it gives some good personal insights into 32 Battalion from the perspective of Nick du Toit. And a very interesting read too.

I would love to do further reading on this campaign, as well as the north African campaign in general. I have been wargaming the topic with games such as OCS Tunisia II, BCS Brazen Chariots, and Dark Sands, but would love reading to accompany the simulation.

I've found/been suggested these books and was wondering if anyone had opinions on what was the best

Rommels Desert War-Martin Kitchen

Battle for North Africa-WGF Jackson

[Crucible of War Trilogy-Barrie Pitt](
https://www.amazon.com/Crucible-War-Wavells-Command-Definitive/dp/0304359505/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?keywords=wavells+command+barrie+pitt&qid=1563903146&s=gateway&sr=8-2)

Desert War Then and Now-Pallud

The Desert War Trilogy-Alan Moorehead

What if Gaddafi was CIA agent much like his counter part Saddam? If he had that gull to enlighten himself to show the protcols, he must have known Saddam was placed by CIA. Who owns that establishment and has ran it for the longest period? Right-Wing.

So if he is making all these moves and acting out of character, who is to say he was disobey direct orders that ended with his own life. He wasn't killed because he was keeping the peace and doing right by his people but rather because he was doing too much. Starting another form of currency that could actually rival the dollar, which is owned by the federal reserve?

Basically biting the hand that gave him the position he is in now. What if it's even bigger? What if his death was a swear in for others? What if by doing this one thing, it was made to look as if another group was on board for another agenda. Even if they knew it would be wrong, it would be better to do this one thing and become "trusted" then say no.

These are all questions we will ask for a long time but there is something very off about it, I do agree just thought I'd get some questions out there.

I've read comments about him being good, I've seen the videos but than again if I go to north Korea and ask if Kimmy is a god, they probably say yes.

I've also seen comments like go read http://www.amazon.com/Gaddafis-Harem-Story-Young-Abuses-ebook/dp/B00CIWZ7TW

This is what propaganda does to us, makes you have to find out what you believe is true.

I don't know but republicans have pissed me off enough to say fack them LOL

https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/cka/Bitter-Harvest-Great-Betrayal-Ian-Smith/1857826043/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1485718097&sr=8-1&keywords=ian+smith

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rhodesia-beginning-end-Ron-Morkel/dp/145378943X/ref=pd_sim_14_3?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=X40MRKAQ87XGC55146MF

It was just a normal hard back in the a small branch library. I think the lady librarian or another there, must have lived there, as there were a fair few African related books.

http://www.amazon.com/Great-Betrayal-Memoirs-Douglas-Smith/dp/1857821769/ref=sr_1_13?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1457695232&sr=1-13&keywords=ian+smith

New and used, but the a new copy of The Great Betrayal has a steep price tag.

Read "The Phantom Major" about the founder Maj David Stirling. They parachuted or drove hundreds of miles behind enemy lines and attacked airfields.

It was joked that they deserved Distinguished Flying Crosses, as the SAS were destroying more Luftwaffe planes than the Royal Air Force were.

I might try that kind redditor. In turn I can recommend 'In the Company of Heroes' by Michael Durant, which is about his experiences as a captive after his Black Hawk was shot down in Somalia.

http://www.amazon.com/Company-Heroes-Michael-J-Durant-ebook/dp/B004IATDEW/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1405458481&sr=8-4&keywords=black+hawk+down

Edit: Dang it. No Kindle copy for Escape from Laos.

My Friend the Mercenary

• Another America: The Story of Liberia and the Former Slaves Who Ruled It - Provides a great introduction/overview of Liberian history, with fascinating backstories.
  
  • https://www.amazon.com/Another-America-Liberia-Former-Slaves/dp/0809095424/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
    
• The House at Sugar Beach: In Search of a Lost African Childhood by Helene Cooper(a famous Americo Liberian who lived and grew up in Liberia while it was at its peak (1960s,1970s) This is her story of her memories of Liberia(good and bad) and what she experienced before, during, and after the coup. She is now a reporter for the New York Times.
  
  • https://www.amazon.com/House-Sugar-Beach-African-Childhood/dp/0743266250/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1549376247&sr=1-1-fkmr0&keywords=house+on+sugar+hill+helene
    
    I am currently reading :
    
    
• Madame President: The Extraordinary Journey of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (also written by Helene Cooper) - Book gives more background on Liberia with a focus on the former President's life.
  
  • https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1451697368/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1
    
    I am a new moderator at r/Liberia and recently revamped it, so feel free to stop there as well as I like to post interesting news and videos about Liberia both past and present.