Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Military history/News/April 2019/Op-ed

@Indy beetle: Thanks for this very interesting article. In my experience, the historiography on modern African military history is pretty bad. This extends even to the English-speaking parts of the continent where you'd expect better. I have an interest in the wars fought between Apartheid-era South Africa and Rhodesia and neighbouring states and liberation movements, but have never been able to find a genuinely satisfactory work on either topic. The literature seems to be dominated by dubious works by white South Africans and ex-Rhodesians arguing that the wars were justified. As I reviewed here a while ago, even a recent book published by Osprey Publishing about South African AFVs repeated Apartheid-era propaganda. The closest I've seem to an even-handed work on the topic are the reports of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which of course aren't intended to be works of military history. Nick-D (talk) 23:02, 18 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]

I second that sentiment. Great op-ed. This is common problem with articles on relatively obscure wars and campaigns that important accounts are written by participants. They must always be used with care. Cheers, Peacemaker67 (click to talk to me) 06:21, 19 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]

@Nick-D:@Peacemaker67:This article seems to best encapsulate the problems with modern African military historiography. I remember the South African AFV book; naturally the white supremacist fanboy crowd gets its opinion in writing, as they are determined to do so. The Katangese Gendarmerie book I reviewed a few months ago was a good exception to the generally lacking quality of the topic. -Indy beetle (talk) 03:22, 30 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]