Criminal lawyer gets new book deal
Last Hot Battle of the Cold War by Peter Polack
(CNS) South African publisher, 30 Degrees South, have acquired the paperback rights in that country for The Last Hot Battle of the Cold War, a book by local author Peter Polack. The writer, who is better known for his criminal defence work here in Cayman, has enjoyed critical acclaim for his political writing on the Angolan civil war, as well as other social science and conflict-related work. An outspoken advocate for equity in the law here and often a thorn in the side of the authorities, Polack is a staunch defender of justice internationally as well locally.
The Last Hot Battle of the Cold War covers a key engagement in 1987-88 during the Angolan civil war that involved Cuban and South African forces. It was first published in hardback by Casemate in December 2013. A review of the book by Ian David Stewart of The University of British Columbia described Polack as an avid scholar of Cuba’s role in Africa’s Cold War-era conflicts.
“He has dedicated years of his life to the study of the war in Angola, a fact clearly evident in the depth and detail of his research. Polack has crafted a fluent and captivating narrative of a pivotal battle that will advance the sparse existing scholarship on the events that took place between late 1987 and early 1988,” the academic said.
The book examines the southern African conflict, where proxy forces from both sides of the cold war vied for control of Angola and a chain of events led to the epic battle of Cuito Cuanavale, which raged for three months between South Africans and Castro’s armed forces. As a case study of ferocious fighting between East and West, the book unveils an episode of the end-game of the Cold War largely unknown to the public. The Angolans on both sides suffered heavily, but it was the apartheid South Africans versus Castro’s armed forces that provide the fascination in one of history’s rare match-ups.
Peter Polack
Following the news that the book will now be published in paperback, Polack said the positive news is tempered by ongoing injustices in Angola.
“The happiness I feel on this milestone is diminished due to the charges against renowned corruption fighter and journalist Rafael Marques in Angola,” Polack said. “The international community should press for his release. The rule of law is not a rubber band to wrap the desires of petty and grand dictators with a thin veneer of respectability.”
Marques has exposed corruption and serious human rights violations connected to the diamond trade in Angola. But he is currently facing 23 defamation charges from a group of generals in connection with his award winning work.
Alongside his work on Angola, Polack also co-authored the Encyclopedia of Warfare, published by Amber Books in September 2013. His article entitled Syria: The Evolution Revolution was published in Special Warfare magazine by the US Army John F Kennedy Special Warfare Center in June last year.
He is presently researching another book project, entitled The Grenada Gulag, about the incarceration of political prisoners during the Grenada Revolution.
Find The Last Hot Battle of the Cold War and Encyclopedia of Warfare on Amazon
