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The war for Africa: Twelve months that transformed a continent
Before southern Africa’s peace there came the war. Between August 1987 and July 1988 Fidel Castro’s Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces, the south African Defence Force, Angolan government forces directed by Soviet officers and an Angolan opposition guerrilla army trained by Red China, France and the United States clashed in the biggest land battles in the history of black Africa. It was a fierce collision of ideologies and of modern warplanes, missiles and tanks across one of the world’s most remote and undeveloped terrains known to Angola’s former Portuguese colonial rulers as the Land at the End of the Earth. Thousands of men died and thousands more were terribly maimed. Weapons and ammunition worth billions of collars were destroyed and expended. The Angolan economy was crippled. The budgets of Cuba, South Africa and the Soviet Union were subjected to terrible strains. It was a War for Africa’s very soul. It culminated in a peace agreement, the New York Accords, signed on 22 December 1988,. The reader will learn what it is like to encounter an advanced Soviet MiG fighter in a French Mirage warplane 30,000 feet above the forests of Africa; what emotion grip a reconnaissance commando lying unseen inside Cuban lines within feet of enemy soldiers; how it feels in an armoured car to face a Soviet T-55 tank at just 30 feet in burning bush and swirling dust and smoke. This is, however, far more than just an account of men in battle. Woven through are details of the political background to the conflict and the diplomatic initiatives which governed the lives and deaths of young Cuban, South African and Angolan men at the front. It is, all in all, a story of African fighting on an unprecedented scale, the international intrigue spanning several continents, and the new opportunities it opened up for democracy to 100 million people in five countries.
403 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1990
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August 15, 20182012-10 - The War for Africa: Twelve months that transformed a Continent. Fred Bridgland (Author) 1990 403 Pages.
An ambitious title but one that in retrospect may be accurate. This book covers much of the same material as; “War in Angola: The Final South African Phase” by Helmoed-Romer Heitman. Both are very good books but very different in their approach, their readability and tone. They both cover the period from summer 1987 to summer 1988, encompassing South African Defense Force Operations Moduler, Hooper, and Packer, also known more widely for the fighting around Cuito Cuanavale, Angola.
It is that last, Cuito Cuanavale, that remains even today, some 24 years later, a hotly debated and contentious topic fraught with issues of race, ideology, memory, and pain. There is a struggle, a war over memory when it comes to this 12 month period in history. The author addresses some of that in the end of the book. But it is best probably to let the reader make up their own mind about victory, defeat, the tactical, the political, goals met and goals unachieved. To quote Trotsky, “If you want the truth you must first compare the lies.” Not to say that this is a book full of lies. It is actually very even handed sticking more t the experience of the events than an evaluation of the events.
What the author does very well in this text is take you into the fighting on the ground and in the air in southern Angola in 1987-1988. The author is a journalist but the writing approach is less hard, factual, pyramid journalism and more akin to the personal interest and story telling model. The writing makes for very easy and quick reading in its choice of anecdotes, syntax, and organization.
The author was limited in his access to the Angolan and Cuban/Soviet side of the story so it is mostly told from the South African experience. It must be remembered that the author was responsible at the time for revealing that South Africa indeed had troops in Angola contrary to the official reports. He expressed hope in the introduction that some day the other side of the story will be fully told. What the reader gets is a good narrative of the operations at all levels from the front line troepie to the heads of state and their representatives negotiating a settlement. The personal stories … usually two or three pages are compelling and honest. Especially riveting is the violence and the frustration that occurred in the Three Battles for the Tumpo Triangle (Part Nine.)
The attentive reader will gain a great understanding not just of the organization, methods, and ethos of the various sides engaged in this epic Col War struggle for Southern Africa but of the Clausewitzian nature of war itself. How the actions of a few on the ground reverberate in the policy choices and negotiations at the strategic level and how sometimes the frustrating limitations at the tactical level are required at the strategic in order to achieve the political goals of the state. Basically you gain a full understanding that war is a continuation of politics and is conducted ultimately with a political aim. This book is one of the best at laying this out and explaining it through real events, actions, and restrictions that I have encountered.
Returning to the title and its claim of continental transformation it is important to remember that the events in this book occurred near the end of the Col War. That they are part of the largely ignored and little understood ideological struggle that was The Cold War. Africa was a central area of big power contention in the Cold War … proxy wars and remnants of de-colonization mingled into a potent and explosive mix. On one side of this struggle fighting shoulder to shoulder were soldiers of Angola, SWAPO, ANC, Cuba, East Germany, the Soviet Union and their allies on the other opposing side was UNITA supported by the CIA and working with the international pariah … South Africa. It was a struggle for ideological dominance and patronage. When it was over in Africa … the US was gone, the Soviets, Cubans, and East Germans were gone. Namibia’s fate was decided by ballot and not by the bullet. South Africa itself would soon enter into transition from Apartheid to the Rainbow Nation and the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact were soon dissolved.
In the end this is a very good book about a forgotten conflict in a forgotten war.
An ambitious title but one that in retrospect may be accurate. This book covers much of the same material as; “War in Angola: The Final South African Phase” by Helmoed-Romer Heitman. Both are very good books but very different in their approach, their readability and tone. They both cover the period from summer 1987 to summer 1988, encompassing South African Defense Force Operations Moduler, Hooper, and Packer, also known more widely for the fighting around Cuito Cuanavale, Angola.
It is that last, Cuito Cuanavale, that remains even today, some 24 years later, a hotly debated and contentious topic fraught with issues of race, ideology, memory, and pain. There is a struggle, a war over memory when it comes to this 12 month period in history. The author addresses some of that in the end of the book. But it is best probably to let the reader make up their own mind about victory, defeat, the tactical, the political, goals met and goals unachieved. To quote Trotsky, “If you want the truth you must first compare the lies.” Not to say that this is a book full of lies. It is actually very even handed sticking more t the experience of the events than an evaluation of the events.
What the author does very well in this text is take you into the fighting on the ground and in the air in southern Angola in 1987-1988. The author is a journalist but the writing approach is less hard, factual, pyramid journalism and more akin to the personal interest and story telling model. The writing makes for very easy and quick reading in its choice of anecdotes, syntax, and organization.
The author was limited in his access to the Angolan and Cuban/Soviet side of the story so it is mostly told from the South African experience. It must be remembered that the author was responsible at the time for revealing that South Africa indeed had troops in Angola contrary to the official reports. He expressed hope in the introduction that some day the other side of the story will be fully told. What the reader gets is a good narrative of the operations at all levels from the front line troepie to the heads of state and their representatives negotiating a settlement. The personal stories … usually two or three pages are compelling and honest. Especially riveting is the violence and the frustration that occurred in the Three Battles for the Tumpo Triangle (Part Nine.)
The attentive reader will gain a great understanding not just of the organization, methods, and ethos of the various sides engaged in this epic Col War struggle for Southern Africa but of the Clausewitzian nature of war itself. How the actions of a few on the ground reverberate in the policy choices and negotiations at the strategic level and how sometimes the frustrating limitations at the tactical level are required at the strategic in order to achieve the political goals of the state. Basically you gain a full understanding that war is a continuation of politics and is conducted ultimately with a political aim. This book is one of the best at laying this out and explaining it through real events, actions, and restrictions that I have encountered.
Returning to the title and its claim of continental transformation it is important to remember that the events in this book occurred near the end of the Col War. That they are part of the largely ignored and little understood ideological struggle that was The Cold War. Africa was a central area of big power contention in the Cold War … proxy wars and remnants of de-colonization mingled into a potent and explosive mix. On one side of this struggle fighting shoulder to shoulder were soldiers of Angola, SWAPO, ANC, Cuba, East Germany, the Soviet Union and their allies on the other opposing side was UNITA supported by the CIA and working with the international pariah … South Africa. It was a struggle for ideological dominance and patronage. When it was over in Africa … the US was gone, the Soviets, Cubans, and East Germans were gone. Namibia’s fate was decided by ballot and not by the bullet. South Africa itself would soon enter into transition from Apartheid to the Rainbow Nation and the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact were soon dissolved.
In the end this is a very good book about a forgotten conflict in a forgotten war.
March 11, 2024
Highly readable and much improved version of Bridglands project to write and overview of the Bushwar in Angola (albeit largely drawing on extensive interviews with the UNITA and South African combatants). He is unflinching in his criticism of the joint south African/Unita military performance were appropriate and asks all the hard questions about the failures in leadership and technical equipment. The book positions the often ignored conflict within the context of the Cold War and captures the scale of fighting, the massive levels of expenditure by both sides and their proxies and then of the conflict tied to the collapse of the Soviet Empire. It's perhaps understandable that Bridgland has failed to penetrate the veil of secrecy surrounding the massive Soviet, Cuban and Communist bloc participation at a similar level of detail but what is surprising is how scant the information is about the role played by Western intelligence services and their proxies in supporting Unita. One can only speculate at reasons for his coyness in this regard. That is a fascinating tale yet to be told! Overall a good read.
September 18, 2023
Engrossing read. Gives clear and realistic descriptions of the fog is war during a time when need was heavily suppressed in RSA. Propaganda striped away on both sides.
September 30, 2023
A good book to have in your local library, not sure if you need it in your personal collection. The emphasis is very much on the detailed tactical history of the armed conflict in Angola in 1987-88, told exclusively from the South African perspective. I do think this is a valuable record but acutely felt the book was lacking in discussion of the broader strategic context of the conflict. As more years have passed since this book was first published I would have hoped for a revised edition to include more input from Angolan, Russian and Namibian participants thereby being more balanced, even if attaining reliable information from Cuba might still be too much to ask for. For anyone not interested in hearing a battle-by-battle recollection of the conflict at the tactical level this book will be an endurance test!
November 16, 2023
Excellent book. This detailed account of the war in Southern Angola should be read by anyone interested in Southern African history.
June 9, 2019
Brilliantly researched and a very objective view of a rather controversial bottle. Once again it highlights the incredible bravery of the South African soldiers and especially so the conscripts involved in this battle. The latter were fighting an "unpopular" war and yet remained committed to their units and their fellow soldiers.
August 21, 2023
The Battle of Cuito Cuanavale was 35 years ago yet you can still find people arguing over who won. I saw progressive historian Rick Pearlstein making some very common (and laughably wrong) claims just the other day on Twitter. Fred Bridgland's 2017 edition of his 1990 book "The War for Africa" does an amazing job of debunking many of the most common myths. The conflict in souther Angola from Sept 1987 to May 1988 between Angola/Cubans/Soviets and UNITA/South African miliary was NOT the Stalingrad of Africa. The Angolans and their Soviet advisors launched a massive, multi-brigade invasion of southwestern Angola to capture Jonas Savimbi's key town of Mavinga. The offensive, more than a year in the planning, caught the attention of the SADF (South African Army under Aprtheid) who did want to see UNITA overrun and a Soviet backed army right on the border of SA's colony of Namibia (old German Southwest Africa).
In the first 6 weeks the offensive was stopped cold turkey and an entire Angolan/Cuban brigade was annihilated. The remaining brigades than collapsed back onto the town of Cuito Cuanavale and dug in. The SADF command believed they had a chance to totally destroy the remaining FAPLA/Cuban force and thus give UNITA and Namibia years to not worry about military defeat. In the darkest hours of the fight Castro became panicked that his army would wiped out and ordered his main general to retreat. The general was right (and a bit lucky), after 6-7 months of combat the SADF was running on fumes, with long suppply lines, equipment breakdowns and a conscript army with a high turnover. A few initial assualts were made but the SADF recognized they did not have the means or stomach to overrun Cuito. The SADF maintained artillery fire on the FAPLA/Cuban position but only to allow a withdrawl towards Mavinga where SADF and UNITA set up extensive defensive positions and minefeilds to stem a further offensive.
Collapsed FAPLA/Cuban/Soviet offensive createed an opening for diplomacy led by the US and USSR to get the various fighting factions to the bargaining table. The Cubans made the first approach and it soon became apparent that a deal was possible. Cuba would withdraw from Angola and South Africa would leave Namibia in exchange for certain promises. South Africa had made the same offer in 1978 but Castro said that would never happen. South Africa also got the Cubans and Angolans to agree to ban the ANC's military arm from using Angola as a base of operations, which ended the ANC's hope of a military takeover in SA. Bridgland's descriptions of the diplomacy is what makes the book better than many of the others on this subject.
In the first 6 weeks the offensive was stopped cold turkey and an entire Angolan/Cuban brigade was annihilated. The remaining brigades than collapsed back onto the town of Cuito Cuanavale and dug in. The SADF command believed they had a chance to totally destroy the remaining FAPLA/Cuban force and thus give UNITA and Namibia years to not worry about military defeat. In the darkest hours of the fight Castro became panicked that his army would wiped out and ordered his main general to retreat. The general was right (and a bit lucky), after 6-7 months of combat the SADF was running on fumes, with long suppply lines, equipment breakdowns and a conscript army with a high turnover. A few initial assualts were made but the SADF recognized they did not have the means or stomach to overrun Cuito. The SADF maintained artillery fire on the FAPLA/Cuban position but only to allow a withdrawl towards Mavinga where SADF and UNITA set up extensive defensive positions and minefeilds to stem a further offensive.
Collapsed FAPLA/Cuban/Soviet offensive createed an opening for diplomacy led by the US and USSR to get the various fighting factions to the bargaining table. The Cubans made the first approach and it soon became apparent that a deal was possible. Cuba would withdraw from Angola and South Africa would leave Namibia in exchange for certain promises. South Africa had made the same offer in 1978 but Castro said that would never happen. South Africa also got the Cubans and Angolans to agree to ban the ANC's military arm from using Angola as a base of operations, which ended the ANC's hope of a military takeover in SA. Bridgland's descriptions of the diplomacy is what makes the book better than many of the others on this subject.
June 8, 2019
An eminently readable account of the 1987 - 1989 clashes in Angola between the SADF/Unita and Cuban supported FAPLA, drawing heavily on personal accounts of South African battlefield commanders and soldiers on the ground. Balanced and insightful even though lacking in similar personal perspectives from the other side.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews