The sixteen-year-long war in Mozambique between the Frelimo government and Renamo rebels remains one of the most overlooked and misunderstood of the conflicts that raged across Africa during the height of the Cold War. While usually viewed as mere sideshow to more high-profile wars in Angola, Rhodesia and within apartheid South Africa itself, it nonetheless is noteworthy in its complexity, duration and destructiveness. Before it was all over in 1992 at least one million Mozambicans would be dead, millions more homeless and the country lying in ruins. Ultimately Frelimo would get its victory not on the battlefield but rather at the polling booth in 1994. Based on more than a decade of meticulous research, a review of thousands of pages of military records and documents, and dozens of in-depth interviews with political leaders, diplomats, generals, and soldiers and sailors, this book tells the story of the war from the perspective of those who fought it and lived it. It follows Renamo's growth from its Rhodesian roots in 1977 as a weapon against Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwean nationalist guerrillas operating from Mozambique through South African patronage in the early 1980s to Renamo's evolution as a self-sufficient nationalist insurgency. In tracing the ebb and flow of the conflict from the rugged mountains and Savannah forests of central Mozambique across the hot, humid Zambezi River valley and down to the very outskirts of the Mozambican capital in the far south, it examines the operational strategy of Frelimo and Renamo commanders in the field, the battles they fought and the lives of their troops. In doing so it highlights personal struggles, each side's successes and failures, and the missed opportunities to decisively turn the tide of war. Accordingly, this book provides the first real comprehensive military history of a war too long neglected and under appreciated in the chronicles of modern African history.

"... this study will testify to the nature of Renamo's chaotic search for power as Mozambique moves from Afro-Marxist policies toward a more democratic multiparty state." —Choice "... an invaluable contribution to understanding why things are so bad and providing some glimmering of how a solution might be found... provides a uniquely useful light on Renamo's murky origins and the means by which it manages to sustain itself." —Africa Analysis "... Alex Vines has compiled the most comprehensive and balanced survey to date of the origins and evolution of the Mozambican counter-revolution." —Third World Quarterly "Vines' wide-ranging survey is still the first place to turn for well-documented details on both internal and external aspects of Renamo's war." —International Journal of African Historical Studies "... very informative... it is precisely 'everything you wanted to know about the MNR but were afraid to ask.' " —Terence Ranger Vines's encyclopedic book provides essential information about this successful rebel movement which continues to be dangerous for the Mozambican government, even though South Africa has disengaged from its day-to-day operations.

"A deeply researched study into the nature of political violence."--

The appearance of ideologically motivated anti-communist insurgent groups in the Third World is an important new phenomenon that has received little serious attention. Analysis has focused on American attitudes, while the indigenous roots and motivations of such groups have remained largely unexplored. Michael Radu fills in the gap in "The New Insurgencies, "with case studies and contributions from Anthony Arnold, Paul Henze, Justus van de Kroef, and Jack Wheeler. As the authors show, more often than not, Third World anti-communist insurgencies express a general rejection of values and ideologies from outsiders. Many of these insurgencies reflect violent opposition to regimes installed by the Soviets during the 1970s, yet they only rarely articulate a struggle for liberal democracy. Nationalism, religion, or the preservation of traditional political and economic patterns are more often the true motivations. And while insurgents often apply military and occasionally political methods used by successful Marxist-Leninist insurgencies of this century, they tend to be rural based and close to the aspirations of the peasant masses rather than directed by the educated and urbanized elites. "The New Insurgencies "includes case studies of major anti-communist movements today, including those in Afghanistan, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Angola, and Nicaragua. It shows that in each, the role of local powers such as South Africa, Thailand, and Pakistan rather than direct U.S. support has been critical to the insurgents' effectiveness. In part this may be because the old bipartisan Washington consensus based on anti-communism has evaporated; and Radu explores why this has occurred. Regardless of Washington's support, the new insurgencies are likely to persist. Their impact on U.S., Soviet, and world policy will be profound. "The New Insurgencies "combines extensive use of firsthand data, including personal knowledge of some of the major personalities involved, with extensive bibliographic information. It is an essential tool for specialists in international relations, military affairs, and U.S. foreign policy, as well as those interested in understanding changes in Soviet domestic and international policy.

This book summarizes five hundred years of the history of the societies that exist within the area that became Mozambique in 1891. It also takes the story up to the present, including the War of Liberation and Mozambique after independence. It is work of major scholarship that will appeal to experts and students alike.

Can elections create democrats? Why and how do formerly armed opposition groups decide to invest in electoral politics or to undermine them? This book argues that the answer lies in the patterns of inter- and intraparty struggles created by participation in repeated elections over time.