Zimbabwe's guerrilla veterans have burst into the international media as the storm troopers in Mugabe's new war of economic liberation. In this book, Norma Kriger gives the unfolding contemporary drama a historical background, and shows continuities between the present and past. Between 1980 and 1987, guerrilla veterans and the ruling party colluded with and manipulated each other to build power and privilege in the army, police, bureaucracy and among workers. Both relied chiefly on violence and appeals to their participation in the anti-colonial liberation war as they sought to vanquish their then political opponents. Today, violence and a liberation war discourse continue to be salient as Mugabe's party and its guerrilla veterans struggle to maintain power through land invasions and purges of a new political opposition. This study gives a critical review of guerrilla programs and the war-to-peace transitions literatures, thus changing the way we view post-conflict societies.

Zimbabwe’s land occupations were unique in two ways.

An insider's view of the land issue and farm invasions in Zimbabwe, this book gives a different perspective than is normally heard, revealing much about the tensions within Zimbabwean society and between the war veterans and the ruling party.

Zimbabwe's Liberation War started with incursions by tiny guerrilla groups and then built up until the settler regime finally had to negotiate a settlement in 1980. This book looks at the realities of the war and what happened afterwards, rather than at the comfortable myths. Both heroic and terrible deeds are recorded. There are both idealistic hopes and cynical compromises. It is centred on ordinary soldiers and people who sacrificed their lives to achieve advances and victories, and suffered the consequences of retreats and defeats. It is history told and experienced by the soldiers themselves, not the 'official' and 'authorized' account by leaders. This book compares strategies used by all the main players - ZIPRA, ZIPA, ZANLA and the Rhodesian Forces. It discusses the Nhari rebellion and the March 11 Movement, the Fifth Brigade and the 'dissidents'. The volume further examines the integration of the armies after 1980, analyses the politics of creating war heroes and discusses life after the war for ex-combatants.