Saturday, July 7, 2007

Book Review 5

The primary reason this period is difficult to learn about is the expense of the books involved. you can easily spend hundreds of dollars trying to learn about the period. with that in mind here are a couple of books not to spend money on. This is a combined book review. The 2 books are Rhodesia by Robin Moore and Dead Leaves by Dan Wylie.
Robin Moore of French connection fame apparently lived in Rhodesia for part of 2 years and Wrote about the conflict trying to draw western interest in the war. The first half of the book is a list of atrocities by the guerrilla forces and makes for pretty heavy reading. the 2nd half is small over view of the Rhodesian defense forces and interviews with Americans fighting in Rhodesia.
I can't say this book has much that recommends itself to someone wargaming the period. 1st half is brutal reading the 2nd is very superficial and doesn't go into enough detail. I have seen this book on ebay for as little as $20.00, don't do it. 1 star out of 5.

The 2nd book had potential. it was written by some one doing his national service time and I hoped would give some insight into service with the Rhodesia Regt. On the good side the book is well written but not a lot happens. The Author follows the template of going from boot camp experience to the battlefield and ending with completion of service. Problem is he didn't have the type of service that makes for compelling literature. There is 1 firefight but the book is 190+ pages and it made me think If I were to write a book about my time as a Marine. It might be interesting to me but no one else. new in paperback at $26.00 2 out of 5 stars

1 comment:

Syr Hobbs said...

Hey great review Dave! have you seen or heard of this new book?

Right up your ally

THE SAINTS. THE RHODESIAN LIGHT INFANTRY
Binda, A.
30 Degrees South Publishing June 2007 ISBN 9781920143077 Hardback 260mm x 215mm 400 pages 1500+ colour photographs

http://www.helion.co.uk/product.asp?strParents=&CAT_ID=&P_ID=12912

Thanks Duane