492 MODERN AFRICAN WARS (4): The Congo 1960-2002

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In the 1970s, during the ruinous 30-year dictatorship of General Mobutu, periodic rebellions required the hasty insertion of Belgian and French paratroops to save European lives. In the mid-1990s the country split again, becoming the battleground for the largest African war in history, as armies and rebel groups from Rwanda, Angola, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Namibia, and other countries crossed into the Congo to support one side or the other, or simply to loot the rich resources.

Major operations ended - or paused - in 2002, but the old hatreds and constant lure of the Congo's natural resources continue to boil over into periodic outbreaks. Featuring specially commissioned full-color artwork and rare photographs, this is the harrowing story of the wars that ravaged the Congo for four decades.

Contents
* Introduction
* Glossary of groups
* Chronology
* The Congo Crisis 1960-63: the Congolese National Army - the Katangan secession, and mercenary involvement - the UN intervention forces
* The crisis of 1964-67: the Simba rebellion - the second-wave mercenaries - Belgian intervention - Che Guevara - CIA mercenary pilots
* 'Zaire' in the Mobutu years 1967-95: Katanga
* Shaba rebellions 1977-78 - Belgian, French and Moroccan interventions
* Rebellion of 1996-97: Mobutu's army plus mercenaries vs Kabila - Mobutu flees, and general war breaks out, 1997-2002: Rwandan, Angolan, Zimbabwean, Ugandan, Namibian and Tchadian involvement
* Bibliography
* Plate commentaries
* Index