Out of Action Review

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(More customer reviews)As someone who was both born, grew up and lived in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe during the period covered by this book, it probably had an even deeper impact on me. Certainly the author pulls no punches in his (at times) brutal honesty about the situation and himself. I found the description of his daughter crying, clinging and begging him not to leave the family to be absolutely heart-rending. And therein lies the biggest disappointment in the book. The "Afterword" concludes with the strong suggestion that "Despite all that happened, I finally came out of it alright with my (presumably?) new wife, children, job and so on". What about those who were so badly hurt by the author's astonishingly selfish behaviour over many years prior? Are they alright too?

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Originally published as Survival Course in 1999, now long out of print, Out of Action is a reworked and updated edition, the sequel to the bestselling Fireforce - one man's war in the Rhodesian Light Infantry. The book is divided into two distinct parts: Part 1, 'War', chronicles Chris Cocks's final 16 months of combat in the Rhodesian bush war, as a stick leader in PATU, the Police Anti-Terrorist Unit. It is a time of unbelievable cruelty as the part-time white reservists battle overwhelming odds, without air support and … without a future, as Mugabe's ZANLA guerrillas swamp the country in the build-up to independence in 1980.Part 2, 'Peace', recounts the author's painful adjustment to life as a civilian - a fifteen-year odyssey in the embryonic state of Zimbabwe. It is an intensely personal journey in which the author pulls no punches as he describes his clumsy attempts to come to terms with a) the new dispensation of black Africa and b) himself. It is a cri de couer, the story of a young man, brutalized by war, who seeks escape in alcohol and drugs, and who, in the process, causes immeasurable pain and suffering to those around him. These too are the casualties of war. Ultimately, though, it is a story of hope, of a man's triumph over his own demons.

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Counter-Strike from the Sky, Second Edition: The Rhodesian All-Arms Fireforce in the War in the Bush 1974-1980 Review

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(More customer reviews)The book Counter-Strike from the Sky by J. R. T. Wood details the use of the Alouette III K-Car and the practices that lead to the counter-insurgency tactics that became Foxfire in Rhodesia. Counter-Strike from the Sky details the concepts of Fireforce and the dates that it was implemented, details the equipment used in the program, as well as the history before, during, and after it that brought it into existence. J. R. T. Wood has also included a DVD with the book that some will find an added benefit. Before starting this book it would be helpful to have some idea of what Fireforce is, but not a requirement. The beginning of the book provides the background needed and the ideas of the concept in the first few pages and chapters. The information and set up is comprehensive. In this book research into the details the years of Fireforce and the phases down to detailed numbers, "894 mines were detonated or recovered a the rate of 2.44 mines a day," and, "From 1972-1980 there were 2,504 detonations by vehicles of landmines ... killing 632 people and injuring 4,410." This shows me the amount of time and energy that has been put into getting both the facts and the story correct in this book. The glossary and prologue are important pieces of the book and are located at the beginning of the book and are very helpful to the reader. If a reader is looking for specific information there is and index that has been included as well. There are three rather large sections in the book, two of photos and one of maps and diagrams that give the reader a visual reference.
This is not a book I would recommend to just any reader of Rhodesian history. It is not a book that can be picked up as light nightly reading and it is certainly not a book that one would pick up thinking that they would escape back to another day and time. It is a book that I would recommend to any historian of this time period. J.R.T. Wood has done a wonderful job of organizing and presenting the data into a all-inclusive unit.

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Fireforce as a military concept dates from 1974 when the Rhodesian Air Force (RhAF) acquired the French MG151 20mm cannon from the Portuguese. Coupled with this, the traditional counter-insurgency tactics (against Mugabe's ZANLA and Nkomo s ZIPRA) of follow-ups, tracking and ambushing simply weren't producing satisfactory results. Visionary RhAF and Rhodesian Light Infantry (RLI) officers thus expanded on the idea of a 'vertical envelopment' of the enemy (first practiced by SAS paratroopers in Mozambique in 1973), with the 20mm cannon being the principle weapon of attack, mounted in an Alouette III K-Car ('Killer car'), flown by the air force commander, with the army commander on board directing his ground troops deployed from G-Cars (Alouette III troop-carrying gunships and latterly Bell 'Hueys' in 1979) and parachuted from C-47 Dakotas. In support would be a propeller-driven ground-attack aircraft armed with front guns, pods of napalm, white phosphorus rockets and a variety of Rhodesian-designed bombs; on call would be Canberra bombers, Hawker Hunter and Vampire jets. A documentary DVD is also included in the book.

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Tracing Boards of Three Degrees in Craft Freemasonry Explained Review

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(More customer reviews)"Tracing Boards of the Three Degrees in Craft Freemasonry Explained" is a wonderful and affordable collection of Masonic Artwork in book form that will be a treasure to add to your library. The Tracing Boards (and there are many, most of them in full color) are presented by Brother Julian Rees along with his helpful Masonic commentaries reflecting the insight he has gained after many years of faithful service to the Craft. The tracing boards cover all three degrees of the Craft and are beautiful to look at and contemplate upon.
This book will appeal to the aesthetic nature of all Freemasons. For Masonic Scholars, there is a Table of Contents, List of Illustrations, Further Reading List, and Index. Brother Rees is a well-traveled (highly knowledgeable) British Master Mason.
For example, commenting on the first-degree tracing board, he states: In all regular, well-formed, constituted Lodges, there is a point within a circle round which the Brethren cannot err; this circle is bounded between north and south by two grand parallel lines, one representing Moses, and the other King Solomon... "Now we may recall what we had to say about the mosaic pavement, namely that in one sense it refers us to Moses, the law-giver. Moses received from G-d the ten commandments, the divine law. King Solomon it was who then dispensed the divine law to humankind, so these two parallel lines represent the receiving and the giving of G-d's law to man. In the USA, the ritual pre-dates the union of the two Grand Lodges in England, and there these two parallel lines represent the two Saints John, one of them Saint John the Baptist, the patron saint of Freemasonry, whose feast falls on midsummer day, the 21st of June, and the other Saint John the Evangelist, whose feast falls on midwinter day, the 21st of December".
Enuff said. Brothers, buy this book today. you won't be disappointed. It has my highest recommendation!

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Although all Freemasons will be familiar with the Tracing Boards - painted or printed boards developed in the early years of Freemasonry which are used in Lodges to illustrate Masonic symbols during lectures - little has been published on them. Haunch's book, "Tracing Boards: Their Development and their Designers", has been in print for over 40 years but is primarily an historical treatise. The Tracing Boards are an essential part of the three Craft Degrees in the way they illustrate the allegories and symbols used. There is no publication which adequately explains the Tracing Boards, their use and the meaning of their symbolism, and this book fills that gap in the market. The first part of the book will give a history of the development and use of Tracing Boards; the book then concentrates on explaining the role of the Tracing Boards in the First, Second and Third Degrees, and the specific symbolism of the Board used for each. Detailed descriptions of the Boards are given, particularly those used in the three degrees by the Emulation Lodge of Improvement, known as the Harris Boards, which contain the elements of most of the Tracing Boards used in lodges throughout Britain. The book will be A4-sized and attractively illustrated to show the variety of historical and colorful Tracing Boards throughout the UK.

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