Table of Contents

Introduction 1. Writing on the Wrong Side of History? SADF Soldier-Authors Reclaim the Border War 2. The Spectre of Vietnam: Lessons and Legacies of the Border War 3. The Cultural Construction of Combat: Narrative Templates of the Border War 4. Codes of Conduct in Captivity: Narratives of South African POWs in Angola 5. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Victimhood: A South African War Veteran’s Story 6. The Battle for Cassinga: Competing Narratives and Complicating Histories 7. The Battle of Cuito Cuanavale: Successful Stalemate and Vicarious Victory 8. Digging up the Past: Revisiting the 1989 Namibian Ceasefire Violation 9. The Freedom Park Fracas: Memorialising the Border War 10. Veteranhood and the National Service Generation 11. Conclusion Bibliography Index

Promotional Information

Examines the struggle over the meaning and memory of the South African Border War by charting contestations in its historiography, discourse and representational modes.

About the Author

Gary Baines is Professor of History at Rhodes University, South Africa.

Reviews

[This book] bears all the hallmarks of superior scholarship: profound thought and careful consideration, engagement with a wide-ranging historiography on memory and cultural studies, as well as firm intellectual engagement.
*Journal of Contemporary History*

Very well researched and underpinned by a myriad of archival sources ... In post-apartheid South Africa, this book is unique ... A welcomed addition to all those interested in the ‘Border War’ and the liberation struggle in South Africa and Namibia.
*South African Historical Journal*

Especially valuable is [Baines'] use of a wide array of sources, as well as his adoption of a cultural studies approach that employs theoretical and conceptual insights derived from [a variety of] disciplines ... The present study offers an opportune moment to investigate how the war is memorised by various constituencies ... [and] is a timely reminder of the deep divisions that still exist in South Africa.
*Journal of Namibian Studies*

The author should be applauded for engaging a huge number of sources including secondary literature, archival research, interviews, articles, newspaper reports, reviews and blogs during data collection ... The book is of significance to a number of disciplines ... [and] I invite all members of the academic fraternity to read the book and join me in congratulating Gary Baines.
*Historical Dialogue, Justice, and Memory Network*

[This book] bears all the hallmarks of superior scholarship: profound thought and careful consideration, engagement with a wide-ranging historiography on memory and cultural studies, as well as firm intellectual engagement ... An important, intelligent and necessary book.
*Journal of Contemporary History*

...[T]his book represents an important contribution to the rapidly growing literature...all those interested in Southern Africa’s Cold War–era conflicts are strongly recommended to read Baines’s excellent book.
*Journal of Military History*