From Sudan to Sierra Leone, the African continent has become almost synonymous with warfare and conflict. Anthony Clayton, a military historian, does not in this book take on the mantle of an international political scientist.
What he has produced is a comprehensive and timely overview of warfare in Africa from 1950 to the present day. He looks at its causes, combatants, weapons (there is a useful technical note on these), methods, victories and defeats. The meticulously accurate appendices are clearly set out and combine to form a mini encyclopedic dictionary; from that perspective alone the volume is a tool worth having.
