The battle of Blood River, or Ncome, on 16 December 1838 has long been regarded as a critical moment in the history of South Africa. It is the culminating victory by the land-hungry Boers who had migrated out of the British-ruled Cape and invaded the Zulu kingdom in 1837.

Many Afrikaners long acclaimed their triumph as the God-given justification for their subsequent dominion over Africans. By contrast, Africans celebrate the war with pride for its significance in their valiant struggle against colonial aggression.

In this telling of the Boer invasion, John Laband deals even-handedly with the warring sides in the conflict, explaining both victory and defeat in the many battles that marked the war. Crucially, he takes the Zulu evidence into full account to present the less familiar Zulu perspective and to explain the decisions taken by the Zulu leaders, as they grappled with the existential threat of the Boer invasion.

The protagonists are placed in the context of a subcontinent experiencing a time of turmoil in the early nineteenth century. A time that saw the displacement of populations and migrations, the emergence of new, warlike African kingdoms such as that of the amaZulu, and the inexorable and violent advance of colonial settlement and rule.

The South African Special Forces achieved exceptional results with small groups of elite soldiers instead of larger, conventional teams. The Team Secret shows that the same principle applies in the business world – a small team has a much better chance of completing projects efficiently, on budget and on time.

Teams, rather than individuals, form the DNA of many companies and they play a pivotal role in achieving strategic and financial success. Like Special Forces teams, they must function as a well- oiled machine firing on all cylinders.

Koos Stadler tells in captivating detail about a real-life Special Forces operation and the lessons learnt about team dynamics and achieving the goal. His story, combined with anecdotes from Anton Burger’s experiences as a team leader in different work environments, show the many lessons the business world can take from the Special Forces.

The book identifies the key characteristics of an effective team, how to select the right team members, how to inculcate an ethos centred around team principles and how an effective team should be led. It speaks to both team members and team leaders across all managerial levels – from a team leader in a call centre to a project manager or CEO.

In short: To fast-track your business, shape up your teams!

A clear-eyed account of learning how to lead in a chaotic world, by General Jim Mattis—the former Secretary of Defense and one of the most formidable strategic thinkers of our time—and Bing West, a former assistant secretary of defense and combat Marine.

Call Sign Chaos is the account of Jim Mattis’s storied career, from wide-ranging leadership roles in three wars to ultimately commanding a quarter of a million troops across the Middle East. Along the way, Mattis recounts his foundational experiences as a leader, extracting the lessons he has learned about the nature of warfighting and peacemaking, the importance of allies, and the strategic dilemmas—and short-sighted thinking—now facing our nation. He makes it clear why America must return to a strategic footing so as not to continue winning battles but fighting inconclusive wars.

Mattis divides his book into three parts: Direct Leadership, Executive Leadership, and Strategic Leadership. In the first part, Mattis recalls his early experiences leading Marines into battle, when he knew his troops as well as his own brothers. In the second part, he explores what it means to command thousands of troops and how to adapt your leadership style to ensure your intent is understood by your most junior troops so that they can own their mission. In the third part, Mattis describes the challenges and techniques of leadership at the strategic level, where military leaders reconcile war’s grim realities with political leaders’ human aspirations, where complexity reigns and the consequences of imprudence are severe, even catastrophic.

Call Sign Chaos is a memoir of a life of warfighting and lifelong learning, following along as Mattis rises from Marine recruit to four-star general. It is a journey about learning to lead and a story about how he, through constant study and action, developed a unique leadership philosophy, one relevant to us all.

Die boek gee 'n voelvlugoorsig van die vier Suid-Afrikaanse kolonies gedurende die Eduardiaanse tydperk van 1902–1910. Die tydperk word deur Karel Schoeman beskou as die “hoogtepunt van die hele Imperiale gedagte” wat uiteindelik met die uitbreek van die Eerste Wereldoorlog sou eindig. Die klem val egter nie op die politieke besluite en ontwikkelinge nie, maar op die persoonlikhede van leiers- en ander figure, die omstandighede in die vier kolonies met hulle stede en dorpe, belangrike sosiale gebeurtenisse, die aanloop tot unifikasie in 1910 en die uitwerking van die belangrike naturelle grond-wet van 1913 op die lewenswyse van swart mense direk na Uniewording. Kort maar insiggewende tiperings word gegee van persoonlikhede so uiteenlopend soos oudpresident Steyn, Lord Milner, die dramaturg Stephen Black, die bendeleier Robert Foster, die avontuurlustige Mrs Edith Maturin en die deelsaaier Kas Maine. Ruim aanhalings uit verskillende bronne verlewendig die bespreking van alledaagse omstandighede op verskillende plekke in wat later die Unie van Suid-Afrika sou wees, soos die sketse van Jacob Lub oor die lewenswyse in Johannesburg, die setlaar Leonard Flemming se boeke oor sy eensame bestaan op 'n afgelee Vrystaatse plaas, en die talle verwysings na riksjas in die reisbeskrywings van besoekers aan Durban. Besonder boeiend is ook die hoofstukke oor die rol van Joodse smouse en handelaars in onder andere die volstruisveerbedryf en die toestande in die inrigting vir melaatses op Robbeneiland. Talle anekdotes en klein kameebeskrywings maak van Imperiale somer 'n besonder interessante leeservaring. Die boek word toegelig met ruim fotoseksies wat 'n visuele beeld van die era gee.

Now a major motion picture directed by Clint Eastwood.

From 1999 to 2009, U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle recorded the most career sniper kills in United States military history. His fellow American warriors, whom he protected with deadly precision from rooftops and stealth positions during the Iraq War, called him "The Legend"; meanwhile, the enemy feared him so much they named him al-Shaitan ("the devil") and placed a bounty on his head.

Kyle, who was tragically killed in 2013, writes honestly about the pain of war—including the deaths of two close SEAL teammates—and in moving first-person passages throughout, his wife, Taya, speaks openly about the strains of war on their family, as well as on Chris. Gripping and unforgettable, Kyle's masterful account of his extraordinary battlefield experiences ranks as one of the great war memoirs of all time.

Includes new material by Taya Kyle about the making of the American Sniper film.

Historian Karen Horn painstakingly tracked down a number of former POWs in which their interviews reveal rich narratives of hardship, endurance, humour, longing and self-discovery. Instead of fighting, these men adapted to another war, one which was fought on the inside of many prison camps.

In their interviews, all the POWs expressed surprise at being asked to share their experiences of almost 70 years earlier.They returned home in 1945 to a country which soon afterwards tried its utmost to promote national amnesia with regard to the country’s participation in the war.

With great insight and empathy, Karen Horn shines a light on a neglected corner of South African history. Karen Horn is a lecturer at Stellenbosch University.

Jan Smuts grabbed the opportunity to realise his ambition of a Greater South Africa when the First World War ushered in a final scramble for Africa. He set his sights firmly northward upon the German colonies of South West Africa and East Africa.

Smuts’s abilities as a general have been much denigrated by his contemporaries and later historians, but he was no armchair soldier. He first learned his soldier’s craft under General Koos de la Rey and General Louis Botha during the South African War (1899−1902). He emerged from that conflict immersed in Boer manoeuvre doctrine.

After forming the Union Defence Force in 1912, Smuts played an integral part in the German South West African campaign in 1915. Placed in command of the Allied forces in East Africa in 1916, he led a mixed bag of South Africans and imperial troops against the legendary Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck and his Schutztruppen. His penchant for manoeuvre warfare and mounted infantry freed most of the vast German territory from Lettow-Vorbeck’s grip.

General Jan Smuts and his First World War in Africa provides a long-overdue reassessment of Smuts’s generalship and his role in furthering the strategic aims of South Africa and the British Empire during this era.

In War Against the Jews: How to End Hamas Barbarism, Alan Dershowitz—#1 New York Times bestselling author and one of America’s most respected legal scholars—explains why the horrific attack of Oct 7 and Israel’s just response changes everything.

Inlcuding:

• It has changed the relationship between Israel and the United States, especially with regard to the possibility of direct American intervention.
• It has required Israel to consider its nuclear option as a last resort to assure its survival.
• It has revealed dangerous attitudes among America’s future leaders on today’s college campuses toward Israel’s possible destruction.
• It has exposed media biases that have been exacerbated with Israel’s vulnerabilities.
• It has united Israelis and Jews around the world as never before, despite the deep divisions among them politically, religiously, and ideologically. Nothing will ever be the same.
• It has clouded the future of peace between Israel and its Arab and Muslim neighbors and has diminished the proposals for a peaceful resolution of the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
• It has made predictions about the future of the region nearly impossible, except that imposing instability is inevitable.

In this book, Dershowitz analyzes these transforming events and suggests how to move forward.

This is the story of a Kavango tracker who served for six years with Koevoet ('Crowbar'), the elite South African Police anti-terrorist unit, during the South West African -Angolan bush war of the '80s. Most white team leaders lasted only two years; the black trackers walked the track for years. Sisingi Kamongo tells the story of the 50 or so firefighters he was involved in; he survived five anti-personnel mine and POMZ explosions and an RPG rocket on his Casspir APC vehicle; he was wounded three times; he tells of the trackers looking for shadows on the ground, facing ambush and AP mines at every turn; he tells of the art of tracking...where dust can tell time. Kamongo's story is supported by two accounts from renowned Koevoet team leaders, Herman Grobler and Francois du Toit- a powerful collection of experiences from South Africa's most successful counter-insurgency unit. The first-ever account of the bush war by a non-white member of the South African security forces. A unique, previously untold perspective of the bush war, by an on-the-ground tracker. A powerful, harrowing read; the tension is palpable.

Die Nederlandse historikus, Martin Bossenbroek, het in 2013 die Nasionale Nederlandse Geskiedenis-prys gewen vir sy nuwe kroniek oor die oorlog wat Suid-Afrika gevorm het, en die boek is ook in 2013 op die kortlys vir die AKO Letterkunde-prys geplaas. Beide hierdie toekennings is vername Nederlandse letterkundige pryse. Hierdie Afrikaanse hardeband, wat in 2015 as 'n Engelse en 'n Afrikaanse sagteband uitgegee gaan word, sal die lof en byval bevestig wat Bossenbroek reeds ontvang het, en aan Suid-Afrikaanse lesers die geleentheid bied om sy unieke storieverteltegniek te ervaar. Die Anglo-Boereoorlog (1899-1902) is al verskeie dinge genoem: die oorsaak van apartheid, die voorganger van die Eerste en Tweede Wereldoorloe, en die eerste media-oorlog (waar joernaliste vir die eerste keer by 'n oorlog ingebed was). Dit het gehelp om die nasiestaat van Suid-Afrika te skep en meer as 'n honderd jaar nadat die oorlog geeindig het, lei dit steeds tot vurige debatte. In Die Boereoorlog bied Martin Bossenbroek vir die eerste keer aan lesers die volledige storie met ongeewenaarde insig en detail. Bossenbroek volg drie kleurvolle hoofkarakters: die Nederlandse prokureur, staatsprokureur van die Suid-Afrikaanse Republiek, staatsekretaris en uiteindelike Europese gesant Willem Leyds; die Britse oorlogsjoernalis Winston Churchill, en die Boerekryger en toekomstige Suid-Afrikaanse politikus, Deneys Reitz. Bossenbroek se fassinerende nuwe blik op die oorlog troef Thomas Pakenham se klassieke topverkoper, en is 'n moet-lees vir alle Suid-Afrikaanse geskiedenis-entoesiaste.

In this never-before-seen memoir, Bergen-Belsen survivor Hannah Pick-Goslar shares incredibly powerful words on the final untold portrait of her childhood friend, Anne Frank. The inspiring and heartbreaking true story of two best friends torn apart and reunited against all odds.

When Hannah Pick-Goslar's family fled Nazi Germany for Amsterdam, she struck up a close friendship with her next-door neighbour; precocious, outspoken and fun-loving Anne Frank. Hannah instantly warmed to happy-go-lucky Anne and for seven blissful years, the inseparable pair navigated school, boys and coming of age in Amsterdam's Rivierenbuurt neighbourhood. But in 1942, life quickly changed for the thirteen-year-old girls.

The Nazi occupation of Amsterdam meant the friends were separated without warning. Hannah called on Anne, but there was no trace of her friend or her precious diary. Hannah was tormented over the fate of Anne, wondering if, by some stroke of fortune she had escaped danger and was alive and well elsewhere. It wasn't until Hannah reached her darkest point, imprisoned with her family in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, that she had an astonishing chance reunion with Anne. Desperate to save her friend who was weak and struggling to survive, Hannah risked everything to toss packages filled with food and clothes over a barbed-wire fence. Hannah only learned of Anne's death after her liberation, when Otto Frank came to visit her in hospital. From that day, Otto became a second father to Hannah, making sure that she was always looked after.

In this groundbreaking memoir, Hannah Pick-Goslar shares an intimate portrait of Anne Frank, the young Jewish diarist who has captured the hearts of millions of readers around the world.

Norman McFarlane was just out of high school when he was conscripted for national service and sent to Angola.

Like so many other ordinary troopies, he was thrown into the horror, deprivation and banality of war. He recounts his loss of innocence in Angola, the subsequent ‘camps’ and his journey towards confronting his post-traumatic stress disorder.

Told with disarming honesty and humour, he gives voice to a generation of white South African men forced into a grisly, life-defining experience.

The Special Air Service – the SAS – are known to be the greatest elite fighting force in the world. This book focuses on the most famous operations undertaken by the SAS from its inception during the Second World War to the present day, describing in dramatic detail the unit’s most daring and memorable missions in trouble spots across the world.

Revelatory and gripping, the author weaves together the extraordinary true stories of this brave fighting force, wherever they are in action. From missions on home shores to Iraq, Sierra Leone, the Falkland Islands, Europe, Libya, Malaya, Afghanistan and more, SAS Battle Ready brings together both the history of the unit and some of its most powerful moments.

From hostage rescues to ambushes, from sabotage to jungle warfare and from pitched battles to reconnaissance, it hasn’t always gone according to plan but the courage and devotion to duty revealed within show just what it takes to be an SAS soldier.

Die eiesoortige vriendskap tussen Winston Churchill en Jan Smuts is ’n studie in kontraste. In hul jeug het hulle uiteenlopende wêrelde bewoon: Churchill was die weerbarstige en energieke jong aristokraat; Smuts die asketiese, filosofiese Kaapse plaasseun, wat later aan Cambridge sou gaan studeer. Daar sou hy die eerste student word wat albei dele van die finale regskursus in dieselfde jaar neem en al twee met onderskeiding slaag.

Nadat hulle in die Anglo-Boereoorlog eers as vyande, en later in die Eerste Wêreldoorlog as bondgenote byeengebring is, het die mans ’n vriendskap gesmee wat oor die eerste helfte van die twintigste eeu gestrek het en tot Smuts se dood in 1950 voortgeduur het. Richard Steyn, die skrywer van Jan Smuts: Afrikaner sonder grense, bestudeer dié hegte vriendskap deur twee wêreldoorloë aan die hand van ’n magdom argiefstukke, briewe, telegramme en die omvangryke boeke wat oor albei mans geskryf is.

Dit is ’n fassinerende verhaal oor twee besonderse individue in oorlog en vrede – die een die leier van ’n groot ryk, die ander die leier van ’n klein, weerspannige lid van daardie ryk.

In 1987–1988 the dusty Angolan town of Cuito Cuanavale was the backdrop for the final battles of the Border War. Ever since the war ended, the fighting around Cuito has been the subject of a fierce public debate over who actually won the war.

While the leadership of the former South African Defence Force (SADF) claims it was never defeated, the supporters of the Angolan MPLA government, Cuba and SWAPO insist that the SADF was vanquished on the battlefield. They contend that the SADF wanted to overrun Cuito Cuanavale and use it as a springboard for an advance on Luanda.

But was Cuito Cuanavale ever really an objective of the SADF? Leopold Scholtz tackles this question by examining recently declassified documents in the SANDF archives, exploring the strategic and tactical decisions that shaped the six main battles, from the SADF’s stunning tactical success on the Lomba River to the grinding struggle for the Tumpo Triangle.

His incisive analysis untangles what happens when war, politics and propaganda become entwined.

Ben Viljoen (1868–1917) was ’n prominente jonger generaal in die Anglo-Boereoorlog, maar ná die oorlog is hy nie opgeneem in die nuwe politieke elite van die Afrikaners nie. Nadat hy die eed van getrouheid op St. Helena onderteken het, het hy noot weer permanent na Suid-Afrika teruggekeer nie.

Carel van der Merwe het besluit om Viljoen se spore te volg na Brittanje, Nederland, Mexiko en Amerika en te gaan uitvind hoe dit gebeur het dat dié Boereoorloggeneraal burgerskap van vier verskillende lande gehad het, die ster was van ’n Boereoorlogskouspel, aan ’n Mexikaanse revolusie deelgeneem het, as vredeskommissaris tussen die Yaqui-Indiane opgetree het en voor sy dood op die punt was om ’n film in Hollywood te vervaardig.

’n Prentjie van ’n komplekse persoonlikheid kom na vore wat herinner aan ’n deel van die huidige generasie Afrikaners – minder godvresend, gemaklik in verskillende kulture, en bereid om te emigreer wanneer hulle dink dit tot hul voordeel is.

Van al die gebeure in die Kaapkolonie gedurende die Tweede Vryheidsoorlog het die teregstelling van Hans Lötter, asook dié van kmdt. Gideon Scheepers, die meeste emosie onder Afrikaners ontketen. Lötter en sy mederebelle in die Kolonie het die verbeelding van die plaaslike bevolking aangegryp en die Britte maande lank hoofbrekens besorg. Sy gevangeneming, verhoor en teregstelling deur ’n Britse vuurpeloton op Middelburg, Kaap, het groot woede en verontwaardiging veroorsaak en hom verewig as Boeremartelaar in die Afrikaner-volksoorleweringe. Nou word sy boeiende verhaal vir die eerste keer volledig vertel.

Marthie Voigt (nooi Prinsloo) is in 1931 in Suidwes-Afrika gebore; die vierde van ses kinders. Wat volg is ’n groot avontuur. Marthie word groot in die wye en ongetemde vlaktes van Angola. Die Prinsloo-gesin trek baie rond agter goeie weiding en gesonder toestande aan. Die lewe in ongerepte Angola het ook sy gevare en Marthie beleef groot hartseer toe haar sussie op 19 sterf aan malaria. Nadat Marthie trou met Carl-Wilhelm Voigt en hulle hul gevestig het op haar skoonouers se koffieplaas, begin die onheil in Angola roer. Ongelukkig breek daar oorlog uit en die Voigts moet hulle plaas net so los. Hulle speel ’n groot rol daarin om vlugtelinge uit Angola te versorg. Marthie Voigt het haar ongelooflike herinneringe aan hierdie historiese en persoonlike gebeurtenisse neergeskryf sodat wanneer ’n mens dit lees, dit glashelder voor jou geestesoog afspeel. ’n Wonderlike lewensverhaal uit die pen van ’n sterk, intelligente vrou.

Die skrywer Erika Murray-Theron wou weet waar die vroue in haar familie vandaan kom. Wat kry ’n mens van wie? Waar kom alles wat jý is vandaan? Hoe is die vroue in haar familie se lewe geraak deur trauma en groot wêreldgebeurtenisse waaroor hulle geen beheer gehad het nie? Theron se ouma Issie is op 3 Mei 1885 gebore; 133 jaar gelede. In hierdie verhaalbiografie gaan soek Theron in ou kookboeke, aantekeninge, foto’s, herinneringe, albums, briewe en geslagsregisters na haar ouma Issie se storie. ’n Lewe ontvou wat geraak is deur die verlies van ouers, die Anglo-Boereoorlog, die Rebellie van 1914 en daarna die energie wat dit verg om ’n groot huisgesin te behartig. ’n Skerfie glas wys hoe die verlede, selfs die verre verlede, spore op latere geslagte laat.

Post-conflict peacebuilding efforts can fail if they do not pay sufficient attention to natural resources. Natural resources - diamonds, oil, and minerals - are frequently at the heart of historic grievances, and have caused or funded at least eighteen conflicts since 1990. The same resources can play a central role in post-conflict peacebuilding, providing revenue for cash-starved governments, basic services for collapsed economies, and means for restoring livelihoods. To date, there is a striking gap in knowledge of what works, what does not, and how to improve peacebuilding through more effective and systematic management of natural resources. Post-Conflict Peacebuilding and Natural Resource Management addresses this gap by examining the growing literature on the topic and surveying experiences across more than forty post-conflict countries. The six-volume series includes more than 130 chapters from over 200 researchers, practitioners, and policymakers.

Hierdie publikasie gee ’n volledige beeld van die kunstenaar Frans David Oerder (1867–1944) se oeuvre – sy Anglo-Boereoorlogtekeninge, landskappe, genrestukke, portrette, blomstudies en stillewes, interieurs, dierestudies en grafiese werk. Geen moeite is ontsien om hierdie boek so volledig en betroubaar moontlik te maak nie. Argivale bronne in die Kunsargief van die Universiteit van Pretoria, die Argief van die Johannesburg Kunsmuseum en die Nasionale Argief van Suid-Afrika in Pretoria het grootliks bygedra tot die toevoeging van inligting oor hierdie kunstenaar wat nie voorheen bekend was nie. Dieplakboek van Gerda Oerder en ’n lang lesing met detailinligting oor Oerder se vroee lewe deur mev. Lorimer in die Kunsargief van die Universiteit van Pretoria het bygedra tot ’n nuwe vertolking van die lewe en werk van hierdie belangrike Suid-Afrikaanse kunstenaar. Tydens die Anglo-Boereoorlog was Oerder die enigste amptelike kunstenaar aan Boerekant, maar tot dusver is nog geen volledige geskiedenis van sy deelname aan die oorlog geskryf nie. In hierdie boek word Oerder se Anglo-Boereoorlogtekeninge nou vir die eerste keer so volledig moontlik afgedruk en beskryf.

Steve Joubert had always wanted to be a pilot and the only way he could afford to do so, was to join the South African Air Force in the late 1970s.

As an adventurous young man with a wicked sense of humour, he tells of the many amusing escapades he had as a trainee pilot. But soon he is sent to fight in the Border War in northern Namibia (then South West Africa) where he is exposed to the carnage of war. The pilots of the Alouette helicopters were witness to some of the worst scenes of the Border War. Often, they were the first to arrive after a deadly landmine accident.

In the fiercest battles their gunships regularly supplied life-saving air cover to troops on the ground.