An unpopular War

Subtitle:
Voices of South African National Servicemen
Author:
J.H. Thompson
Format:
Trade paperback
Average customer rating:
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An unpopular War

Short description

In the seventies, eighties and nineties, conscription had a profound effect on hundreds of thousands of young men, particularly those who had to serve in the Angolan war.

Long description

In the seventies, eighties and nineties, conscription had a profound effect on hundreds of thousands of young men, particularly those who had to serve in the Angolan war. This title is a collection of reflections and memories of that time, collected by JH Thompson, who interviewed men who did National Service. Contributors include ordinary soldiers, Special Forces members, helicopter pilots, chefs and religious objectors. The title captures the spirit and atmosphere, the daily duties, the boredom, fear and other intense experiences of an SADF soldier.

Product details

Publisher:
ZEBRA PRESS
ISBN:
9781770073012
Publication date:
June 2006
Length:
230mm
Width:
150mm
Thickness:
21mm
Weight:
340g
Pages:
256
Prizes:
Shortlisted for South African Booksellers' Choice Award 2007.

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  An Unpopular War
Reviewed by Nick from South Africa on 09 June 2006
1712 of 3222 people found the following review helpful:

The manner in which the author has captured 'reality' is absolutely superb. This is not only a book that must be read in order to inform South Africans about the realities associated with National Service but is furthermore a book that should be read by every, inter alia, psychology and sociology scholar out there. It not only highlights things like perceptions, for starters the perception among many of our countrymen and women that every white male as a result of going to the army supported apartheid and the Nat government, but other issues which can be debated and analysed within these disciplines. Furthermore it is clear that the author has gone to great lengths to verify information, and the factual accuracy and detail is phenomenal. Apart from the memories flooding back it furthermore reinforced my belief that no matter how some individuals try and romanticize war it is a terrible thing. Any states military machine should be used for purely defensive and humanitarian purposes. That I believe was the biggest problem with the SA military set up. We were all called up to be part of a setup that was not defending the citizens of a country from an external threat but rather we were all used to further the self-interests of a select few and the West, the same way that the young men and women are being used by those with self-interests in Iraq today. It never even crossed my mind when I was in the SADF in 1983-5, mainly I suppose due to my youth, but it is a rather unfortunate and sad reality that the young men and women of the middle class and poor will always be used as cannon fodder by those select few who have their own agendas in the fight for control of worldly resources. They get this right through indoctrination and by feeding the population patriotic propaganda which they do not believe in themselves. This is what happened to us.....What was it all for ?...Why did all these young men and woman suffer....and die....? Who were we doing this for ?.....Who were we protecting.... and from what ? For me this book reaffirms my belief that as citizens of this country we need to question everything our new government does.....we have a right to know wh

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  Two thumbs Up!
Reviewed by Unknown from Pretoria, South Africa on 14 June 2006
454 of 906 people found the following review helpful:

I just completed this book and it was WONDERFUL! I give this book the two thumbs Up! I was also in the South African Defence Force in the 80’s and this book captures the emotions and situations that I experienced! Helped me to cope with some of the things I had witnessed. A must read!

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  One-sided Amateurish effort
Reviewed by Mnr "Japie" Van Renen from Canada on 30 July 2007
602 of 1202 people found the following review helpful:

I find it difficult to take any author seriously who tries too hard to provide an one-sided account of the past. I bought the Afrikaans version of this book and immediately felt cheated after having read three pages. Apparently, the Army only had dissallusioned English soldiers among it's ranks, with Afrikaners fully represented... as stereotypes. I find this strange, since MOST of the ex-conscripts I have spoken to have had mostly positive things to say about their time in the SADF. Although we don't read the author's own words, we get the message/agenda behind the personal accounts she has selected. After reading this you SHOULD feel like you need to go buy more books to fill in the blanks. In short, buy this book if you are English, are easily amused by Afrikaner stereotypes, or see the past in oversimplified terms as either completely Good or Bad.

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An unpopular War

An unpopular War

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