So happy to finally hear the real story around this ground breaking endeavor. Mr.Barlow gives razor insight into his many trails and tribulations. The one saying he hasn’t wavered from and the cornerstone of his philosophy as I see it. Is only Africans and help Africans. He proves this true time and again.
Eeben Barlow is a singular individual as someone who has waged counter-insurgency warfare but unlike the wonks and staffers in Washington D.C., he was actually successful in his endeavors fighting bad actors from Sierra Leone to Nigeria to their knees. He did it by working by, with, and through host-nation counter parts alongside fellow South African security contractors.
Barlow is a mercenary, infamous amongst many academics, journalists, and security professionals. He knows who he is and makes no apologies for it, a quality which is all too rare in today's world, in particular the “messy bullshit” world he navigates from Libya to Madagascar. In his third book, Barlow offers a behind the curtains view of the reality, and tragedy, of modern warfare in Africa as he experienced it up close and personal.
In “The War for Africa” Barlow describes his life as a private security contractor over the last decade and a half. From fighting Boko Haram to hunting down the Lord's Resistance Army, Barlow discusses the trials and tribulations of modern counter-insurgency operations as well as the maddening attempts to thwart his efforts. From frustrating African bureaucracies, to attempts to stymie his work by the United States government, one has to wonder if the powers that be really want terrorists put out of business or not.
This unique view explodes the true story behind so many false headlines and will be an important reference for both soldiers and scholars as well as those wanting to read of true life adventures of which Barlow has in spades.
I recently completed reading Eeben Barlow’s latest book “The War For Africa: Conflict, Crime, Corruption and Foreign Interests. Eeben’s narrative writing style makes for easy reading drawing the reader into the narrative as a participant. Those who have read his book “Executive Outcomes: Against All Odds”, will find this work to be a continuation of Eeben’s passion to be involved in helping in whatever way he can, to resolve the conflict, crime and corruption so prevalent all over Africa. Again, it is a gripping account that makes for compulsive reading and the reader will find it difficult to put the book down!
What again becomes very clear in this book, if I may quote from the Bible, Matthew 13:57 “A prophet is not without honour except in his own town and in his own home” (NIV) has certainly been Eeben’s case. Given the intelligence that his operatives gathered and his analysis and insightful interpretation of it, Eeben made several predictions of acts of violence and destruction that would take place and issued warnings of these to relevant authorities, which went unheeded as when his predictions came to pass unnecessary lives were lost and property damaged!
What should be of concern to every reader and indeed every South African are his statements regarding the unhindered or unchecked illicit training of terrorists within the borders of South Africa and the movement of Islamic Extremist Terrorists operating within Mozambique that are steadily moving southwards until they reach the border with South Africa. The South African Authorities have given no indication of concern to this situation and perhaps a failure to do so is an implication that they are complicate with what is taking place?
I urge every African who has a love for and concern for this great continent to read this book and allow it to challenge you into thinking what you can do to contribute positively towards improving the situation in Africa!
Eeben Barlow’s book “The war for Africa” is a very insightful book. Not only does it lift the veil of the so called “mercenaries” active in Africa, but it discusses what is really happening. It lays bare the truth of operations and involvement of these men in their campaigns to stop evil. One cannot other than respect these people and their brave actions.
I admired their adaptability to function everywhere, from the jungles in Uganda, the bush of Garamba National park, the desert edges in South Sudan and Nigeria, and the urban environments of Madagascar.
It is not a book about how great Eeben Barlow and fellow comrades were (although they were), but rather the struggle by Africans, in Africa for Africa to change the outcomes of the conflicts on the continent. It provides a good understanding to the mountains of problems experienced by them before the operations, and then the sudden attack from the external forces and the media once there is success.
The book is an easy read, yet there is insight into strategies used, methodology developed, and the different leadership roles individuals played. It is in my opinion about real men taking up the challenges— that others failed dismally in addressing—and under extreme pressure led their people to victory. The question posed is: “Is this not what all good human beings should aspire to?” and the answer is a definitive yes.
I could feel the desperation and helplessness experienced by Eeben and his team, especially during the Chibok girls’ chapter where it took so long to get the opportunity to solve the problem. But alas, despite the short time to make an impact, the success was short lived…
The book indicates how friendships and comradery existed between the men of STTEP and their clients. Again, the undertones of people with veiled motives are constant and that is indeed incredibly sad.
I would recommend that young people read this book to understand leadership, the role of strategic thinking and how to solve problems that look and seem to be unsurmountable. For the older generation, you get to enjoy reflections of your own history and an insight into the truth that is so very scarce nowadays. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and once I started reading, it was difficult to put it down.
True to the nature of Special Forces, the South African Recces started small but had a big impact. This iconic group went on to gain international renown as one of the world’s finest, focusing on counter-insurgency, strategic reconnaissance, sabotage and direct action. SASF SPECIAL FORCES provides a comprehensive account of the origins and history of this famous group as told...
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This is the story of one of the world's most effective Special Forces units told by the men who served in it. Breaking with conventional military thinking, the South African Police created Koevoet by refining the concept of the counter-insurgency group pioneered in Rhodesia during the Bush War in order to provide up-to-date intelligence about an elusive enemy. Now at...
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Until now little has been known about the Rhodesian contribution to the history of the SAS. Now at last the men themselves tell their own stories of the exploits of that Special Forces unit during the Bush War and the years before. SAS Rhodesia provides a comprehensive account of the origins and history of this famous Special Forces unit, as told...
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With roots going back to Cecil Rhodes’ buccaneering Pioneers, Stannard, like many of his countrymen, was born and bred to fight against the odds as a soldier defending a country at war with the world. Never frightened to lead, he tackled his foe with skill, incredible courage and almost unbelievable good cheer. Serving in both the SAS and the Selous...
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Richard Freiherr von Rosen was a highly-decorated Wehrmacht soldier and outstanding panzer commander. His memoirs are richly illustrated with contemporary photographs, including key confrontations of World War II.After serving as a gunlayer on a Pz.Mk.III during Barbarossa, he led a Company of Tigers at Kursk. Later he led a company of King Tiger panzers at Normandy and in late 1944...
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AFRICA@WAR SERIES: VOLUME 50 War of Intervention in Angola - Volume 3: Angolan and Cuban Air Forces 1975-1985 - Tom Cooper, Adrian Fontanellaz, Jose Augusto Matos Most accounts of the conflict known in the West as the ‘Border War’ barely mention the operations by the FAPA/DAA. A handful of published histories mention two MiG-21s claimed as shot down by Dassault Mirage F.1...
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Designed in response to a 1951 requirement, the C-130 Hercules is the most successful military airlifter ever built. Since it first flew in prototype form on 23 August 1954, more than 2,100 have been produced in over eighty different versions. Across its variants, the Hercules serves more than sixty air forces, as well as many civilian cargo operators, in a...
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AFRICA@WAR SERIES: VOLUME 51 RIPE FOR REBELLION: Political and Military Insurgency in the Congo, 1946-1964 - Stephen Rookes After many years of political struggle, the Belgian Congo was finally granted its independence in June 1960. Becoming the Republic of the Congo (and later the Democratic Republic of the Congo), what was supposed to be a momentous occasion in the country's history...
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Eighth Army Versus Rommel is a riveting account of the Desert War from 1940 through Montgomery's celebrated battle of Alamein in 1942. Comprehensively researched and rich in previously unpublished material, it examines the undertrained and underfunded pre-war British Army, contrasting its leadership with its opposite numbers in Germany, and demonstrates how and why Eighth Army had difficulties in its first 18...
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AFRICA@WAR SERIES: VOLUME 52 FOR GOD AND THE CIA: Cuban Exile Forces in the Congo and Beyond c.1961-1967 - Stephen Rookes As the United Nations armed forces found themselves struggling to quell a series of armed rebellions, towards the end of 1962 the United States increased its military role in the Congo Crisis by providing the Congolese government with a small air...
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Following the Korean War, the next armed conflict to involve South African military forces was against Soviet, Cuban and Angolan forces – the SADF’s Operation Savannah in Angola. This resulted from the communist-inspired coup d’état in Portugal and the Soviet Union’s attempt, using Cuban surrogate forces, to annex Angola and to threaten South Africa’s national security. Teenaged boys doing their...
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Alan Brough is a writer and historian who grew up in Rhodesia. During those turbulent years he heard the whispered stories of Jack Malloch, an amazing flyer who many credited with the very survival of the breakaway country. Yet on the surface Jack seemed to be nothing but a hard-working entrepreneur who owned a nondescript little cargo operation serviced by...
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By August 1974 the Portuguese had all but abandoned Angola, its erstwhile colony, and there was a fear in both the Intelligence services of South Africa and America that the country was likely to fall the hands of the MPLA, generally regarded as a Soviet surrogate. It was that fear that triggered the training by South Africa of guerrilla groups...
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This book tells the story of the author’s three contracts as a mercenary in the ‘64-‘65 Congo conflict. It is a vivid account of his personal experiences, from his first contract as a raw recruit to his last contract, when he was involved in the formation of the navy on Lake Tanganyika and was the first C.O. Hugh started writing...
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AVAILABLE FROM 3 NOVEMBER 2020 A Brutal State of Affairs analyses the transition from Rhodesia to Zimbabwe and challenges Rhodesian mythology. The story of the BSAP, where white and black officers were forced into a situation not of their own making, is critically examined. The liberation war in Rhodesia might never have happened but for the ascendency of the Rhodesian...
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This two-volume book covers the history of the Ratel from the requirement for an ICV for the SA Army in the late 1960s and early 1970s through to the development, production and deployment of Ratel and to its final major combat operation of the Border War in 1989. The book is about Ratel, not about the Border War; although, obviously,...
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The Fading Light: Memories of a Professional Soldier's Five Decades of War and Conflict in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. An Australian former Special Forces soldier describes his experiences and recollections of war and civil disturbance across continents and areas of conflict, interspersed with insights into the nature and character of his various employers, and insightful analysis of the...
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An account which strives to place the war which South Africa fought in Angola in a historically meaningful perspective. Although the conflict initially centered on the opposing agendas of the SADF and People’s Liberation Army of Namibia of SWAPO, it was to escalate and take on an international Cold War character as Angolan, Cuban, and Soviet protagonists appeared on the...
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This work is a serious, non-fictional autobiography, which inter alia is an expose of the times and personalities involved during the thirty years the author spent in covert operations with the Nationalist Party government of South Africa from 1966. The author’s targets during this period included Soviet and Cuban political and military activity in Southern Africa and those of the...
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AFRICA@WAR SERIES: VOLUME 49 SOUTH AFRICAN ARMOURED VEHICLES: A History of Innovation and Excellence During the Cold War, Africa became a prime location for proxy wars between the East and the West. Against the backdrop of a steep rise in liberation movements backed by Eastern Bloc communist countries such as Cuba and the Soviet Union, southern Africa saw one of the most...
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Al Venter's latest book on South Africa's 23-year Border War along the Angolan frontier offers a host of new perspectives. These include details about units like the South African Air Force 44 Squadron which converted Dakota aircraft into flying gun platforms similar to those used in America's war in South-East Asia. He also has American nuclear specialist David Albright -...
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Executive Outcomes was already well known to several governments and private corporations before it exploded into controversy in 1993 after entering into a contract with Angola’s FAA to train a brigade-level force to decisively end their decades-old conflict with UNITA. It was also well known to those involved in fermenting conflicts in order to topple African governments with a view...
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"YOU HAVE NOT LIVED TILL YOU HAVE ALMOST DIED, AND FOR THOSE WHO FIGHT FOR IT, LIFE HAS A FLAVOUR THE PROTECTED WILL NEVER KNOW" The South African Police Special Task Force is the Special Operation element of the South African Police. They are considered to be amongst the best of such Units in the world. They have a formidable reputation...
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