In 1890, the country of Rhodesia/Zimbabwe did not exist. What did exist were two regions dominated by the Ndebele tribe, a tribe who broke off from the battle-hardened Zulu. The area of modern-day Zimbabwe was called Matabeleland and Mashonaland. The Ndebele ruled over the Shona like Spartans over Helots. In the early 1890s, British settlers infiltrated Mashonaland and a bloody conflict erupted – a conflict that would ultimately last more than a hundred years.

This is the story of that conflict.

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References:

The Rise and fall of the British Empire by Lawrence James

Cry Zimbabwe: Independence 20 years on by Peter Stiff

Mugabe: Power and plunder in Zimbabwe by Martin Meredith 

The fate of Africa by Martin Meredith

The Rhodesian War: A military history by Paul Moorecraft and Peter McLaughlin

Bush War operator: Memoirs of the Rhodesian Light Infantry, Selous Scouts and beyond by Andrew Balaam

Fire Force: A trooper’s war In The Rhodesian Light Infantry by Chris Cocks

Survival course: Rhodesian denouement and the war of self by Chris Cocks

The Saints: The Rhodesian Light Infantry edited by Chris Cocks, Craig Bone, and authored by Alexandre Binda  

Masodja: The history of the Rhodesian African Rifles and its forerunner, The Rhodesia Native Regiment by John Wynne Hopkins, Brig David Heppenstal, and Alexandre Binda

Pamwe Chete: The Legend of the Selous Scouts by Ron Ried-Daly

Rhodesia: Last outpost of the British Empire 1890-1980 by Peter Baxter

A history of Rhodesia by Robert Blake

Taming the land mine by Peter Stiff

Black fire: accounts of the guerilla war in Rhodesia by Michael Raeburn

Rhodes: the race for Africa by Antony Thomas

A Handful of hard men: The SAS and the battle for Rhodesia by Hannes Wessels

Dingo firestorm: The greatest battle of the Rhodesian Bush War by Ian Pringle

Sunshine and storm in Rhodesia by Frederick Selous

Selous scouts: Rhodesian counter-insurgency specialists by Peter Baxter

Rhodesian light infantryman 1961–80 by Neil Grant

White liberals, moderates, and radicals in Rhodesia, 1953-1980 by Ian Hancock

The iron lady : Margaret Thatcher, from grocer’s daughter to prime minister by John Campbell and David Freeman

The struggle for Zimbabwe: Battle in the Bush by Lewis Gann

The struggle for Zimbabwe : The Chimurenga war by David Martin and Phyllis Johnson

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From Rhodesia to Zimbabwe by Lawrence Vambe

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The founder: Cecil Rhodes and the pursuit of power by Robert Rotberg

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