Umkhonto we Sizwe: The ANC’s Armed Struggle

Umkhonto we Sizwe: The ANC’s Armed Struggle is an honest account of the armed struggle and a fascinating chronicle of events that changed South African history.
Simpson, Thula
23079
978-1-77022-841-2
In stock
new
€29.95 *

Title: Umkhonto we Sizwe
Subtitle: The ANC’s Armed Struggle
Author: Thula Simpson
Genre: History
Publisher: Penguin Random House South Africa (Penguin Books)
Cape Town, South Africa 2016
ISBN 9781770228412 / ISBN 978-1-77022-841-2
Hardcover, dustjacket, 15 x 23 cm, 591 pages, several b/w photographs

Description:

Umkhonto we Sizwe: The ANC’s Armed Struggle tells the story of the armed struggle waged by the ANC's military wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), which stands as the longest sustained insurgency in South African history. From its beginnings in the 1950s, the rebellion lasted for almost four decades, culminating in the inauguration of MK's first commander-in-chief, Nelson Mandela, as South African president in 1994. The rebellion unfolded over a vast area, for while MK conducted operations across South Africa, its largest campaigns and heaviest engagements occurred outside the country's borders, and it was also able to draw on support from individuals, organisations and governments across the globe, testifying to the international resonance of the basic issues at stake in the conflict. Author Thula Simpson provides an account of the struggle in all its diversity. Umkhonto we Sizwe: The ANC’s Armed Struggle is structured into six sections, corresponding to the major strategic phases of the insurgency. The shift from non-violent mass protest to armed struggle is dealt with first (Part I). Then we pass successively to sabotage (Part II), guerrilla warfare (Part III), armed propaganda (Part IV), people's war (Part V) and negotiations (Part VI). The narrative as a whole charts the progression from the height of the Defiance Campaign during the 1950s to the negotiated settlement of the 1990s that marked the accomplishment of the anti-apartheid struggle's basic political objectives, which MK had been established to help achieve.

Content: Umkhonto we Sizwe: The ANC’s Armed Struggle

Preface
PART I: THE STRUGGLE
Acts of Treason
Violence and Non-Violence
PART II: SABOTAGE
The Opening Phase
Soldiers of Mandela
Adversity and Retreat
External Mission in Command
PART III: GUERRILLA WARFARE
Invasion
The Wankie and Sipolilo Campaigns
By Land, Sea and Air
Rebuilding the Underground
PART IV: ARMED PROPAGANDA
Soweto Generation
The Anvil and the Hammer
Battlefield Southern Africa
Planning for People's War
PART V: PEOPLE'S WAR
Township Rebellion
Taking the War to White Areas
Season of Violence
Interregnum
PART VI: ENDGAME
Homecoming
Transition
Victory
Notes
Abbreviations
Index