Al Venter has been free-diving (without cages) with sharks for 40 years and has had three of his friends killed by them. The international author known for his war writing now turns his efforts on hig
Venter, a journalist with no fixed address, tells stories of how police officers in the US have been saved from death by concealable, soft body armor. It perpetuates the right-wing myth that American
Sierra Leone’s eleven-year guerrilla war – that left 200,000 people dead – was brief, bloody and mindlessly brutal. It was also the second African war in which mercenaries were hired to counter some o
One of the great tragedies of Africa is not only the fact that a million people – mostly civilians and a large proportion of them children – died in one of Africa’s first post-independence wars, but t
Insurgencies in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen and elsewhere – the majority linked to al Qaeda – are in the news on an almost daily basis. But very little surfaces about a festering insurgency that h
These are frightening times for us all: Sarin nerve gas being sprayed on innocent civilians in Syria, threats that biological warfare agents might be spread about on the New York Subway and the most t
Almost half a century has passed since the Nigerian Civil War ended. But memories die hard, because a million or more people perished in that internecine struggle, the majority women and children, who
Almost half a century has passed since the Nigerian Civil War ended. But memories die hard, because a million or more people perished in that internecine struggle, the majority women and children, who
Not everybody is aware that the ships that rounded the South African coast over the past five centuries are as closely linked to the history of South Africa as gold and diamonds. They were treasures t
Al Venter regards himself an African – a ‘white’ African, but as much a part of the fascinating and often troubled continent on which he was born as his Zulu and Swahili speaking contemporaries. There
When the world held its breath …It is more than 25 years since the end of the Cold War. It began over 75 years ago, in 1944 – long before the last shots of the Second World War had echoed across the w
When the world held its breath …It is 25 years since the end of the Cold War, now a generation old. It began over 75 years ago, in 1944—long before the last shots of the Second World War had echoed ac
Venter s choice of military events is eclectic. He has four chapters on Afghanistan, three on Somalia, several on how Lisbon fought its desperate rearguard colonial wars in Angola, Mozambique and Port
Reveals the frightening stories behind nuclear-weapons research being conducted by 30 countries worldwide, many of them helmed by unstable governments, as well as research being done by terrorist grou
Nominated for the NYMAS Arthur Goodzeit Book Award 2013Portugal's three wars in Africa in Angola, Mozambique and Portuguese Guinea (Guiné-Bissau today) lasted almost 13 years - longer than the United
When the world held its breath … It is 25 years since the end of the Cold War, now a generation old. It began over 75 years ago, in 1944—long before the last shots of the Second World War had echoed a
