Delta Books

02/09/2024

For a taste of Deon Lamprecht's bestselling Bloodbrothers, don't miss this extract from his book on Operation Sceptic in Daily Maverick.

Deon Lamprecht’s Blood Brothers records the dramatic events during an objective called Smokeshell, as told by the survivors of the battle.

22/07/2024

Are you a Louis Botha or a Jan Smuts fan, or perhaps a fan of both? Tony Garcia and Ian van der Waag's wonderful new book investigates the wartime roles of these two legendary, yet divisive historical figures.
Facing internal rebellion and the threat posed by German troops on South Africa’s borders, Prime Minister Louis Botha and his deputy, Jan Smuts, led the Union Defence Force during the First World War. Both men commanded in the field.
Behind Botha’s charming façade and Smuts’s stoic machine, were two very human, imperfect men. Together they provide a fascinating lens through which to examine the potent forces of the early 20th-century world and the country they hoped to forge.

17/03/2024

An extract from Delta Books' latest release - conflict scholar Mike Martin's HOW TO FIGHT A WAR - about the importance for military leaders to develop a realistic strategy.

‘How to Fight a War’ is an indispensable guide to understanding modern warfare, especially the decisions made by politicians and generals – good and bad. Read an excerpt from Mike Martin’s latest book.

15/03/2024

New release by Delta Books! HOW TO FIGHT A WAR by British conflict scholar and former soldier Mike Martin of King's College London. In this book, Mike takes the reader through the hard logic of fighting a conclusive interstate war that solves geopolitical problems and reduces future conflict. It is described as an indispensable guide to understanding modern warfare.

Prof Abel Esterhuyse of the Military Academy in Saldanha wrote the foreword to the SA edition of this highly readable book. 'How to Fight a War is a rather explicit title for a book. War, however, is an explicit phenomenon and ought to be treated as such, both in practice and in theory,' Esterhuyse writes.

17/08/2023

In position 69 on the general bestsellers list and 34 on the list for non-fiction bestsellers in South Africa. Congratulations authors Evert Kleynhans and David Katz!
Favouring manoeuvre over attrition, and often punching above their weight, South African soldiers have become known for their tenacity, dash and ability to defy the odds. Their unique directive command style has also helped them to excel in defining battles and operations, from the campaign in German South West Africa in 1915 to the cross-border operations in Angola during the Border War.
In 20 Battles, military historians Evert Kleynhans and David Brock Katz investigate the evolution of South Africa’s armed forces over a century. Get your copy now!

01/09/2022

Jan Smuts’s abilities as a general have been much denigrated by his contemporaries and later historians, but he was no armchair soldier. He first learned his soldier’s craft under General Koos de la Rey and General Louis Botha during the South African War (1899−1902). He emerged from that conflict immersed in Boer manoeuvre doctrine.

After forming the Union Defence Force in 1912, Smuts played an integral part in the German South West African campaign in 1915. Placed in command of the Allied forces in East Africa in 1916, he led a mixed bag of South Africans and imperial troops against the legendary Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck and his Schutztruppen. His penchant for manoeuvre warfare and mounted infantry freed most of the vast German territory from Lettow-Vorbeck’s grip.

"General Jan Smuts and his First World War in Africa" by David Katz provides a long-overdue reassessment of Smuts’s generalship and his role in furthering the strategic aims of South Africa and the British Empire during this era.

19/08/2022

‘As dit kom by spesmagte-opleiding, dan vra die ouens baie vir my wat is die grootste les wat ek geleer het. Dit is: Jy het altyd nog ‘n kléin bietjie krag; moet nooit d**k dit is die einde van die lyn nie.

‘As daar nog suurstof in die lug is, kan jy nog aangaan; solank jy asem haal, kan jy nog aangaan . . . Die mens het eintlik ‘n baie hoë toleransie vir pyn, vir honger, vir allerhande goeters, vir uitdagings. Maar jy moet diép krap in jou gees en jou verstand – jy móét ‘n sterk kop hê. En dit is wat spesmagte-soldate anders maak as ander soldate.’
- Oud-Recce Johan Raath vandag in 'n artikel op Netwerk24. Sy jongste boek, A Breed Apart: The Inside Story of a Recce's Special Forces Training Year, het pas verskyn.

Johan Raath praat met Murray La Vita oor sy lewe as verkenningsoldaat en oor die boek waarin hy in fyn besonderhede die uiters strawwe opleiding beskryf waaraan die recces blootgestel is.

15/11/2021

Callie Roos, oudkapelaan en oud-Recce, gesels op Donderdag, 2 Desember, met Stephan Joubert oor sy boek In Christus. Die gesprek vind plaas by kerksondermure in Centurion en is gratis. Jy hoef net jouself te bring.

12/11/2021

A photo that stops one in one's tracks.

Photo of a Soviet war veteran near the Eternal Flame on the anniversary of Victory Day. 1966

23/10/2021

Excellent write-up of Evert Kleynhans's Hitler's Spies in Time of Israel. If you haven't got a copy yet, add it to your Christmas wishlist now!

In 'Hitler's South African Spies,' Evert Kleynhans uncovers 'suppressed' evidence that members of an ultimately ineffective effort to harm Allied ships escaped prosecution

03/10/2021

Remembering the Lomba ... 3 October 1987.
A moving message from Captain PJ Cloete, commander of Charlie Squadron:

THE LOMBA 100.
And so another year has passed. Still innocent and naive, no idea what the morrow would bring... the crucible of fire branding our souls forever. Innocence shattered, and an unwelcome immersion into the reality of war ~ death and destruction and its everlasting tendrils tightly bound and merged into our very souls.
03 Oct 1987, you awaited us as we lay awake caught up in our racing thoughts trying to grasp and prepare for the early call to arms, waiting for the battle to commence. Reality was far worse than anything we imagined on this night.
Little knowing that our lives would be changed forever, a family shattered by death, comrades physically injured ~ scarred for life for all to see and then those hidden scars no one ever see. Unbeknown to us would become a lifelong reality for all who survived... changed forever!
Salute men of Charlie Squadron & 61 Mech, we can never forget. Salute.