African story

2015 paperback new and unread with 260 pages. R50 postage in SA. The past is brought to life in this historical epic about a South African family whose lives collided with the biggest event in history: the First World War. The central theme is the largely forgotten East Africa campaign, but by definition a world war has a wide reach. Five members of one family with deep roots in all four corners of the country, served in three different theaters of war. Their lives on active service are all interwoven and inseparable from the home front. Global events are juxtaposed with everyday life on a farm in the eastern Orange Free State. Appropriately, the author constructs linkages that span generations, uncovering individual experiences of an earlier conflict which had engulfed South Africa barely a decade before the eruption of the 1914–18 war. As the sons of early pioneers, this generation witnessed history in the making before writing their own. Riding into action on horseback or in a flying machine, their paths led from the South West African desert, through disease-infested jungles in East Africa to some of the great battles on the Western Front. Only one of the five came home unscathed although he crash-landed his aircraft behind enemy lines and only made it back through his audacity and brute strength. Another, an intellectual priest, was left for dead at Delville Wood, and his brother was wounded on Messines Ridge. The remaining two suffered from debilitating tropical illnesses. Hazard and hardship lingered on in the form of Spanish influenza, mining strikes and the Great Depression. The war cast a long shadow. Between them, these consciously literate men left substantial documentary legacies. Using extracts of their letters from the front, the story is to a large extent told in the words of those who were there. Context is provided by referencing existing literature, unpublished memoirs and archival material. It could be called a military history or a social history, but it is a truly South African story which contains much new material for historians, while for the general reader it offers an accessible insight into an unparalleled period of history.

Story of the President Class Navy Frigates in the South African Navy. For nearly two decades the three President Class frigates acquired by the SA Navy in the 1960s dominated the South African maritime scene. These three ships - President Kruger, President Steyn and President Pretorius were ordered from Britain in the 1950's. Paperback, 290 pages Published June 2006

This is a soldier's story about South African soldiers in southern Angola and Namibia and the enemies they fought. It tells of insurgency and counter-insurgency, guerrilla warfare and counter-guerrilla warfare, almost conventional warfare and conventional warfare. It tells of a conflict which the world saw as unpopular and unjust, in which South Africa was perceived as the aggressor. The South African soldiers who fought in it, however, saw it as a conflict fought to stop what is now Namibia falling into the hands of the Soviet and Cuban-backed SWAPO black nationalist political organisation. After Namibia South Africa would be next. They saw the whole conflict as an extension of the Cold War, but while it was on the frontiers in Europe, in Angola they were fighting a very hot war in Angola. Eventually, after the fall of the Soviet Union, the war was resolved by the democratic solution of UN supervised free and fair elections in Namibia. Since then, regrettably, there has been interference by the ruling party with the democratic constitution put in place in Namibia which has eroded much of that hard won democracy. 32 Battalion, of which Colonel Jan Breytenbach was the founding commander, became the most controversial unit in the South African Army because of the secrecy surrounding it. Its story is virtually the story of the Angolan/Namibian war, because its involvement in it was greater than any other South African unit. The regiment primarily consisted of black troops and NCOs originating from virtually every tribe in Angola. They were led by white South African officers and NCOs. Neither apartheid nor any form of racial discrimination was ever practiced in the unit. There was always a sprinkling of whites originating from countries like Great Britain, the old Rhodesia, Portugal and the USA amongst its leadership cadre, although in the latter stages of its existence this shrank to only a few. Such a presence undoubtedly led to stories circulating that the unit was a led by foreign white mercenaries. While it was true that the black Angolan element could have fallen with the mercenary definition, the whites involved were attested soldiers in the South African Army. In any case, they formed a minority and the vast majority of white officers and NCOs were born South Africans. The unit's aggressiveness and the successes it achieved in the field of battle, often against incredible odds, lay in its spirit and its  espirit de corps. In this respect and in many other ways it compared favourably with the French Foreign Legion. Its story parallels with and reminds one of the British and British Commonwealth Chindits of World War-2, operating behind the Japanese lines in Burma in large formations, out-guerrillaing those who only three years earlier had been regarded in awe as the unbeatable jungle warfare experts. Likewise, 32-Battalion consistently outfought both FAPLA, SWAPO and the Cubans in the Angola bush throughout the war years. It created a problem to which neither they nor their Soviet and East German mentors ever found a solution to. After the 1989 Namibian settlement the unit was with withdrawn to South Africa where they were deployed to effectively deal with MK infiltrations into the north of South Africa. From there, after the unbanning of the ANC in 1990, they were redeployed to deal with political troubles, principally between armed ANC self defense units and armed units of the IFP. The intrusion of black foreigners into the townships who were prepared to deal with troubles robustly and without fear or favour, did not suit either the ANC or the IFP, as they could not be subverted to support local causes because they held no local tribal allegiances. In the end it seems they became something of a bargaining chip at the CODESA negotiations, designed to find a new political dispensation for South Africa. Despite it having borne the brunt of South Africa' war in Angola with the blood of its troops, the National Party Government disgracefully ordered its arbitrary disbandment in March 1993 and the unit ceased to exist. Paperback, 360 pages with photos & maps  

Large hardcover coffee-table book, copy number 1114, 774 pages, profusely illustrated, as new   The Fourth Dimension – the untold story of military health in South Africa is a magisterial study of the subject just published by the South African Military Health Service. A weighty tome of just less than 800 pages, it is the most comprehensive study of military health ever attempted in South Africa. As such it records matters military medical reaching back to the turn of the 20th Century, with a look at the health support available to forces then engaged on both sides of the Anglo Boer War. Detailed and richly illustrated with what must be very rare photographs – the reviewer confesses to not having seen most – the story moves via the World Wars and Korea to the modern era. Captured also is the post-war growth of the health component of the SA Defence Force from a branch of the SA Army – the South African Medical Corps – to a fully fledged fourth service and its role in the Namibian-Angolan border war of 1966-1989. A full section – with reminiscences – are included regarding the medical services of the Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Venda and Ciskei medical services before their integration into the South African National Defence Force in April 1994. Given extensive treatment is the health services of the African National Congress and Pan Africanist Congress of Azania while in exile. Again, this is unique, readable material not published before. Also recorded for the first time is the struggle against apartheid in the health environment inside South Africa from the 1960s to 1994 – the medical side of the mass democratic movement. Also covered is white resistance to conscription (the End Conscription Campaign), the United Democratic Front and state reaction.  The last three chapters deal with the integration of various antagonistic factions into a new SANDF - and for health professionals, a new SA Medical Service, later renamed the SAMHS; the deployment of this new service onto the regional and international stage; and finally a bold look into the future.  Military health has here been given a comprehensive, fair and balanced treatment with substantial volumes of new information added to the narrative. “The Fourth Dimension – the untold story of military health in South Africa” sets a high standard and one hopes the other services and divisions of the SANDF, if not the organisation itself, will follow suit.  The Fourth Dimension – the untold story of military health in South Africa Col Ricky Naidoo (Editor-in-Chief) South African Military Health Service Department of Defence Pretoria

Subtitle: The Classic Novel of Karoo Life Author: Olive Schreiner Introduction: Cherry Clayton Publisher: Ad Donker Publishers () Edition: New Edition  ISBN-10: ISBN-13: Condition: As New Binding: Softcover Pages:  305 Dimensions: 19.2 x 12.9 x 2 cm +++ by Olive Schreiner +++ Olive Schreiner's classic tale of two unusual soulmates seeking self-fulfilment and a better life on a farm in the Karoo. The Story of an African Farm is Olive Schreiner's landmark novel. Schreiner's radical views on marriage, class distinction and religion remain relevant to this day and The Story of an African Farm maintains an important place in South Africa literature. This edition contains an informative introduction by Cherry Clayton.   A passion for books and a passion for collecting fine editions was the recipe that created the successful group of bookshops in Johannesburg called Bookdealers. The group started thirty years ago with one store in the quirky suburb of Yeoville and has grown through the years to a total of five shops, plus our online sales. Bookdealers is well-known for its collectable and used books. We also have a large variety of remaindered books sourced from around the world.  If you collect from one of our five branches there is no delivery charge. We also offer postal delivery (when available) and courier delivery, subject to a quote.

 BORDER-LINE INSANITY A National Serviceman's Story INCLUDES SADF ROLL OF HONOUR AND ROLL OF HONORIS CRUX AWARDS; TIM RANSDEN  Softcover Galago  First Edition 2009    (  Roll of Honour - Those killed in Active Service split between the South African Army 1962 - 1994 ; The South African Navy 1966 - 1994 ; The South African Air Force 1962 - 1994  and the South African Medical Service 1981 - 1994 )  copyright Peter Stiff.   ISBN 978 1 919854 24 3; No. of Pages; 352  Very good condition, tightly bound, no tears,  A stamp and old price written on inside of front cover. Note; Some of the cover corners have been slightly bumped.. For postage via SA PO  and within SA  please add R55.00 alternatively via POSTNET to Postnet for a parcel of up to 5kg then please add R105.00 Buyers from outside of SA can contact me for a postal quote.     medals   

Breaking Story - The South African Press By Gordon Jackson, published in pages, slightly larger softcover, slight scuffing etc & name penned on 1st page otherwise all good.          

Falling into Place: The Story of Modern South African Place Names Jenkins, Elwyn P. David Philip, Publishers: Cape Town (). ISBN-10: . ISBN--. First Edition. Octavo. Pictorial wrappers. Soft Cover. Very  Good  +  in No dust-jacket as issued. Viii + 220 pp. An unread copy. Wrappers slightly rubbed. Front  wrapper  substantially  curled. Over the last 30 years, a fascinating variety of new place names have been given in South Africa. Falling into place provides detailed accounts of how towns, cities, suburbs, provinces, airports and even holiday resorts have been named - and, in some cases, renamed. Covering everything from names in the Kruger Park and the controversy over Pretoria/Tshwane to the natural features of Marion Island, the title is a useful reference and an entertaining companion to the evolution of local place names - and the emotions that can be involved. Drawing on a wide range of popular and archival sources, the title will be a valuable and unusual contribution to the study of social change in South Africa. Tall Price: R Ordinary Post within South Africa: R

Editor: Helon Habila Publisher: Granta Books () ISBN-10: ISBN-13: Condition: As New Binding: Hardcover with dust jacket Pages: 378 Dimensions: 23.2 x 16 x 3.5 cm +++ Edited by Helon Habila +++ The Granta Book of the African Short Story is a diverse and dazzling collection from all over the continent. Helon Habila has focused on younger, newer writers, contrasted with some of their older, more established peers, to give a fascinating picture of a new and more liberated Africa. It includes contributions from Rachida el-Charni, Henrietta Rose-Innes, George Makana Clark, Ivan Vladislavic, Mansoura Ez-Eldin, Fatou Diome, Aminatta Forna, Manuel Rui, Patrice Nganang, Leila Aboulela, Zoe Wicomb, Alaa Al Aswany, Doreen Baingana and E.C. Osondu. These are the stories of a new Africa, punchy, self-confident and defiant.   A passion for books and a passion for collecting fine editions was the recipe that created the successful group of bookshops in Johannesburg called Bookdealers. The group started thirty years ago with one store in the quirky suburb of Yeoville and has grown through the years to a total of five shops, plus our online sales. Bookdealers is well-known for its collectable and used books. We also have a large variety of remaindered books sourced from around the world.  If you collect from one of our five branches there is no delivery charge. We also offer postal delivery (when available) and courier delivery, subject to a quote.

The Story of the South African refugee-soldiers in the Alps during the Second World War.

Over to Tunis, The Complete Story of the North African Campaign by Howard Marshall A first edition hardcover published by Eyre & Spottiswoode of London in 1943 Mustard colour covers with black writing to the spine, binding is tight & strong, previous owners signature on front flyleaf, no dustjacket. Postage within South Africa will be R30-00 Overseas buyers can contact us for a postal quote.

Like the Wind The Story of the South African Army By: Siegfried Stander A first edition hardcover published by Saayman & Weber in 1985 Brown cover boards with white writing to the spine, binding is tight & strong, no marks or inscriptions, dustjacket is complete clean & bright, a very nice copy Packaging and Postage within South Africa R50.00 Overseas Customers can contact us for a Postal Quotation **ABE**

  We Fear Naught But God: The Story of the South African Special Forces “The Recces”by Paul Els Publisher: Covos-Day, Johannesburg Edition: 2000 – First Edition Binding: Softcover ISBN: 0-620-23891-7 Pages: 248 with numerous colour black & white photographs, illustrations, diagrams and maps   Extra Information Condition – Excellent, clean with tight binding Language: English. CD not included with book   Special forces operators were carefully selected and trained to gather covert strategic and tactical information about enemy activities. They learned how to observe silently, harass the enemy and destroy selected targets – all behind enemy lines. Frequently required to face great dread, they had to learn to control that fear to survive.   We Fear Naught But God bring the reconnaissance soldiers – the recces – to those who have wondered about what kind of men they were. Their families, their heartaches, their sufferings and achievements.   These men were not assassins who eliminated spies in hotel rooms. They were responsible men who had a sense of integrity and served their country proudly. Please note that we refer the right to close our auctions at any time Please refer to all images for condition, as this form an integral part of the description Payment to be processed within 2 days of auction closing Item will be posted on the first Saturday following receipt of payment. We are not responsible for damages to or loss of items once posted The item is second hand and sold as such with no warranty or guarantee implied, expressed or given. Regretfully, no buyers from outside the borders of South Africa

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