Zambezia (1995), XXII (i).BOOK REVIEWSSoldiers in Zimbabwe's Liberation War, Volume One Edited by NgwabiBhebe and Terence Ranger. Harare, University of Zimbabwe Publications,1995, xi, 211 pp., ISBN 0-908307-36-5, Z$60.Much has been written about the liberation war. Most of the histories andthe realities of the war have been mythologised and epic heroes havebeen created. Where documentaries have been produced, they have givena partisan view of the whole issue. Fiction has also tried but with limitedsuccess.Soldiers in Zimbabwe's Liberation War is a clear departure from thistradition. It is a bold leap across the abyss of bias, partisanship and prejudicesthat many texts of this nature have fallen into. I write this review as anacademic and ex-combatant who feels strongly about the issues raised here.As an ex-combatant I assess the book through the eyes of thousands of myfellow comrades who never got the opportunity to read and write.The book is a result of a conference that was held at the University ofZimbabwe in 1991. It brought together former members of ZANLA, ZIPRA,Rhodesian Security Forces, politicians, scholars and theologians. Thus thepapers in the book are drawn from scholars in a wide range of academicdisciplines. It is an invaluable book for any person interested in Zimbabwe'simmediate past and its relation with the present. For the layman it is a vasttreasure full of hitherto unknown truths about the liberation war.The book focuses on specific aspects of the liberation war through theeyes of ZANLA, ZIPRA and the Rhodesian Army. Some of the details aredisgusting and repulsive but they are presented objectively as historicalfacts. This is the historical reality of the war: it has to be recorded accuratelyand be free of bias.One outstanding feature about this book is its objectivity. It offers afresh and original view of a war that has been mythologised and somepeople have made political capital out of it. The depth of its strength lies inthat it is a document based on empirical evidence. It is the result of scientificenquiry using primary and secondary sources. Consider for example thedepth of detail in Davis Moore's chapter, 'The Zimbabwe People's Army:Strategic innovation or more of the same?' or Jeremy Brickhill's chapter,'Making peace with the past: War victims and the work of the Mafela Trust'.In both there is evidence of detailed fieldwork which gives credit to the finaldocument.The book serves as useful mapping ground for what has been coveredso far. It also accepts its own limitations and shortcomings. For example, itargues that the infamous Auxiliary Forces of the Internal Settlement era mustbe chronicled no matter how unpalatable this may be. Other areas that needfurther research are gender and generation issues in the war. The editorsmention other areas that have been overlooked like the role of the urbansociety, the Black businessman and woman, and White society in theliberation war.Soldiers in Zimbabwe's Liberation War is a remarkable achievement inthat it brings together diametrically opposite views and achieves whatmany books on the subject have failed to achieve; unity in diversity. In the101102 BOOK REVIEWS'Introduction', the editors seek to draw comparisons and contrasts in theliberation armies. While there are sharp differences, there are also strikingsimilarities. For example, the recruitment patterns of ZANU and ZAPU arevery similar in their phases. Both admit mistakes in the nascent phases ofthe armed struggle between 1965 and 1970. Both claim credit for theopening of the north-eastern front with Frelimo. Both experienced seriousinternal divisions due to 'layers' or 'generations' of guerrillas over theyears. Both were preparing for conventional war in 1978 and 1979. Brickhill'sreports of ZIPRA's strategies for conventional war are similar to ZANLA'splans in 1978, when sections of about ten men each operating independentlywere merged into platoons and operated in units of 30 to 40 men. Inaddition to this in ZANLA, Tanzanian-trained troops of 1977,1978 and 1979who were prepared for mobile warfare constantly talked about 'kujengamuzinga' (mounting heavy artillery). In both armies there were keyproponents of unity, for example, the late General Tongogara (ZANU) andJ. Z. Moyo (ZAPU).Missing is Professor Roberts's paper which would have completedthe triad of the major armies in the liberation war. Being aware of its valueas a contribution to the Rhodesian side of the war, the editors give a longsummary of this valuable paper. This paper is most important in that theZimbabwe National Army (ZNA) was built around the Rhodesian SecurityForces. Inclusion of this paper would have given us a better understandingof the ZNA as it is today because so much was inherited from that armyand its traditions.An interesting revelation is how deeply divided the Auxiliary Forces ofthe Internal Settlement era were. Part of this ambiguous force was underthe Selous Scouts, another was supported by Internal Affairs and stillanother by the Special Branch which itself was deeply divided. The AuxiliaryForces commanded very little respect in the regular army and to ZANLAand ZIPRA they were more of a bother than a threat. Nonetheless theycomprised an armed force that has to be examined in some detail.David Moore's chapter looks at ZIPA from a different dimensionaltogether. He portrays it as a distinct fighting force, but ZIPA's brilliantsuccesses on the field were not equated by political successes. This iswhy it finally collapsed in 1976. It lacked the political clout and guile thatwere characteristic of the older and more experienced politicians. WhateverZIPA was, credit must be given to it for pushing the frontiers of the wardeep into Zimbabwe in the short time that it existed.Theresa Barnes's chapter, 'The heroes' struggle: Life after the liberationwar for four ex-combatants', is a record of the feelings and views of fourex-combatants about the war. This chapter is a voice of the voiceless. Somuch has been said about the ex-combatants, so much has been speculated.They have been marginalized, yet they themselves have written so little.The few excerpts reveal traumas of the war and how some of them sufferedin the hands of the enemy. It is sad to note that for most, the ordeal hascontinued into the post-war era. Despite their forbidding circumstances atpresent they are proud to have contributed to the liberation of theircountry. One of the ex-combatants had this to say, 'I don't regret that Ijoined the liberation struggle... If I say I regret having joined the liberationBOOK REVIEWS 103struggle, then I would be saying that I regret having liberated my country.'This is a poignant statement from a man who gave so much but got so littlein return. The feelings expressed by the ex-combatants in Barnes's chaptermake me search for my conscience that has been long lost in the ecstasyof liberation.The work of the Mafela Trust outlined in Brickhill's chapter mentionedearlier, reveals that the traumas of the war are still very much alive forboth the perpetrator and the victim. The work of the Mafela Trust is 'anattempt through field research, to list the names, next-of-kin and places ofburial and the ZIPRA dead'. The pain and grief over the loss of a loved onecan be overcome if there is a burial. The grief is perennial when the lovedone is unaccounted for. Some fighters and peasants who fell in the struggleare still to be located. Everyone knows someone close to them who hasnever been found and this is a painful experience. Thus the effort of theMafela Trust is commendable and should be the basis of a nationwidedocumentation of the fallen heroes, be they the fighters or the civilians.This generation has the duty to record accurately events in theliberation war for the unborn generations. Moreover, as we enjoy thefruits of liberty we can do justice to those who died for us by puttingtogether chronicles of the war. This new book sets us off in that directionand it is a valuable addition to our history of Zimbabwe's bloody road toliberation. The second volume is to be published in the near future. I canhardly wait for it.University of Zimbabwe C. PFUKWAA Zimbabwean Past By D. N. Beach. Gweru, Mambo Press, 1994, xviii,368pp., ISBN 0-6922-52-6, Z$89,18.This book is a very pleasant surprise. We have known for some timethat David Beach intended to follow up his The Shona and Zimbabwe, 900-1850 (Mambo, Gweru, 1984) with a collection of dynastic histories. Theweaker brethren among us have feared that such a collection would bevery difficult reading. And Beach tells us sternly in the introduction to thisnew book that if 'Shona and Zimbabwe was complicated for academic andforeign readers, A Zimbabwean Past will be even more complex'. Thatintimidating rather than reassuring comparison Š the Hapsburg EmpireŠ appears on the first page of the introduction. It looks as though we arein for a necessary but gruelling time.And yet the book's effect is quite different. The dynastic histories arethere, of course, in three chapters which between them cover over 150pages. But each history is introduced in bold print with a paragraphsetting out the moral of the tale. The first of these Š a note on theMarange dynasty of Bocha Š gives their flavour: