Jacana Media

Subtitle: Soviet Soldiers’ accounts of the Angolan War

Summary: For almost fifteen year South Africa was involved in a civil war in Angola, the so-called Bush War, on behalf of the UNITA faction. The climax of this portrayed conflict was the battle of Cuito Cuanavale, the largest military engagement on African soil since the Second World War. Here South African forces came to blows with Angolan FAPLA troops and their Cuban allies in a battle whose outcome is still hotly debated. Thousands of South African conscripts took part in the Bush War and their stories are beginning to be told. What us much less known is the view from the other side. This book provides, for the first time in English, first-hand, personal accounts of the conflict, leading up to Cuito Cuanavale, as told by Soviet advisers to the Angolan army. Their experience of the war and their views and assessment of their South African enemies as well as their Cuban and Angolan allies will surprise and fascinate South African readers and at the same time offer new insights into the conflict.