Cuba vs South Africa: A Hot Battle in a Cold War

Polack, Peter.  Last Hot Battle of the Cold War: South Africa vs. Cuba in the Angolan Civil War.

         Philadelphia: Casemate, December 2013.  ISBN: 9781612001951.

In The Last Hot Battle of the Cold War, Peter Polack offers the military aficionado a short examination of the Cuito Cuanavale campaign between the FAPLA/Soviets/Cubans and the UNITA/South African factions during the Angolan civil war.  Polock provides an overview of the campaign, but concentrates on the confrontation between the South African Defense Force and the Cuban Army "volunteers" at Cuito Cuanavale siege.    

Polack opens with short, detailed overview of the opening fight to set the stage.  He then introduces the various factions, providing units, commanders, etc. and what role each played in the battle and beyond.  The latter half of this short book covers the Soviet led FAPLA attack that failed disastrously, the UNITA/ South African advance that led to the Cuban sealift for the defense of Cuito Cuanavale with its bridges and strategic location.  The siege is covered in a single chapter that discusses some of the tactics along with any losses from the South Africans or Cubans as they occurred.  The results of the campaign are summarized along with a list of casualties (dead, wounded or prisoners).

Overall, The Last Hot Battle of the Cold War started out quite interesting, but went downhill due to many extraneous details that could have been covered in footnotes and/or appendixes rather than in chapters interrupting the flow of the campaign.  It does cover all aspects of the campaign and is one of the few titles on this topic, so it receives tentative approval.