{"title":"Chris Cocks","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"fireforce-one-man-s-war-in-the-rhodesian-light-infantry-book-chris-cocks-9780620215732","title":"Fireforce: One Man's War in the Rhodesian Light Infantry","description":"The horror of guerrilla warfare in Africa Fireforce is the compelling, brutal but true account of Chris Cocks's service in 3 Commando, The Rhodesian Light Infantry, during Zimbabwe's bitter civil war of the '70s--a war that came to be known almost innocuously as 'the bush war'. 'Fireforce', a tactic of total airborne envelopment, was developed and perfected by the RLI, together with the Selous Scouts and the Rhodesian Air Force. Fireforce became the principal strike weapon of the beleaguered Rhodesian forces in their struggle against the overwhelming tide of the Communist-trained and -equipped ZANLA and ZIPRA guerrillas. The combat strain on a fighting soldier was almost unbelievable, for the Rhodesians, who were always desperately short of ground troops, were sometimes obliged to parachute the same men into action into as many as three enemy contacts a day. While estimates of enemy casualties vary, there seems little doubt that the RLI accounted for at least 12,000 ZANLA and ZIPRA guerrillas--but not without cost. Fireforce is not for the squeamish. Although it has been written with unforgettable pathos and humour, it tells of face-to-face combat in the bush and death at point-blank range. It is a book which does nothing to glorify or glamorize war, for as Chris Cocks found at such a young age, war is merely a catalogue of suffering, destruction and death. Fireforce has been described by critics as being to the Rhodesian War what All Quiet On The Western Front was to World War I and Dispatches was to Vietnam. Read it . it will be an experience you never forget. Chris Cocks lives in Johannesburg. This is the fourth edition of Fireforce. He is a partner in the South African Publishing house, 30 South Publishers. Cocks is also the author of Out of Action and co-author of The Saints--The Rhodesian Light Infantry.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49540454875409,"sku":"GOR013717253","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49551668773137,"sku":"GOR002537638","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51544512069905,"sku":"GOR004319887","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0620215739.jpg?v=1750943943"},{"product_id":"cyclone-blues-book-chris-cocks-9780620254380","title":"Cyclone Blues","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49580209307921,"sku":"GOR002344184","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0620254386.jpg?v=1751008829"},{"product_id":"out-of-action-book-chris-cocks-9781920143206","title":"Out of Action","description":"The powerful sequel to Fireforce Originally published as Survival Course in 1999, now long out of print, Out of Action is a reworked and updated edition, the sequel to the best-selling Fireforce--one man's war in the Rhodesian Light Infantry. The book is divided into two distinct parts: Part 1, 'War', chronicles Chris Cocks's final 16 months of combat in the Rhodesian bush war, as a stick leader in PATU, the Police Ant-Terrorist Unit. It is a time of unbelievable cruelty as the part-time white reservists battle overwhelming odds, without air support and . without a future, as Mugabe's ZANLA guerrillas swamp the country in the build-up to independence in 1980. Part 2, 'Peace', recounts the author's painful adjustment to life as a civilian--a fifteen-year odyssey in the embryonic state of Zimbabwe. It is an intensely personal journey in which the author pulls no punches as he describes his clumsy attempts to come to terms with a) the new dispensation of black Africa and b) himself. It is a cri de couer, the story of a young man, brutalized by war, who seeks escape in alcohol and drugs, and who, in the process, causes immeasurable pain and suffering to those around him. These too are the casualties of war. Ultimately, though, it is a story of hope, of a man's triumph over his own demons. Chris Cocks lives in Johannesburg. He is a partner in the recently established South African publishing house, 30 South Publishers. He is the author of Fireforce (now in its fourth edition); a novel, Cyclone Blues; and is the editor and compiler of The Saints--The Rhodesian Light Infantry.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":49802256711953,"sku":"CIN1920143203A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52411432665361,"sku":"GOR005663863","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1920143203.jpg?v=1750727323"},{"product_id":"survival-course-book-chris-cocks-9780620241151","title":"Survival Course","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50047593546001,"sku":"GOR004396575","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0620241152.jpg?v=1751008827"},{"product_id":"fireforce-book-chris-cocks-9781581606157","title":"Fireforce","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50159783870737,"sku":"CIN158160615XVG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52301887734033,"sku":"GOR005088414","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/158160615X.jpg?v=1751056627"},{"product_id":"fireforce-book-chris-cocks-9781919874326","title":"Fireforce","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50306873721105,"sku":"GOR002906257","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50654321738001,"sku":"GOR014025102","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1919874321.jpg?v=1750770314"},{"product_id":"fireforce-book-chris-cocks-9780958489096","title":"Fireforce","description":"Fireforce is the compelling, brutal but true account of Chris Cocks’ service in 3 Commando, The Rhodesian Light Infantry, during Zimbabwe’s bitter civil war of the ’70s–a war that came to be known almost innocuously as `the bush war’. `Fireforce’, a tactic of total airborne envelopment, was developed and perfected by the RLI, together with the Selous Scouts and the Rhodesian Air Force, becoming the principal strike weapon of the beleaguered Rhodesian forces in their struggle against the overwhelming tide of the Communist trained and equipped ZANLA and ZIPRA guerrillas.   The combat strain on a fighting soldier was almost unbelievable, for the Rhodesians, who were always desperately short of ground troops, were sometimes obliged to parachute the same men into action into as many as three enemy contacts a day. While estimates of enemy casualties vary, there seems little doubt that the RLI accounted for at least 12,000 ZANLA and ZIPRA guerrillas–but not without cost.  Fireforce is not for the squeamish. Although it has been written with unforgettable pathos and humour, it tells of face-to-face combat in the bush and death at point-blank range. It is a book which does nothing to glorify or glamorise war, for as Chris Cocks found at such a young age, war is merely a catalogue of suffering, destruction and death.  About the Author Living in Johannesburg, Chris Cocks is a partner in the South African Publishing house, 30°South Publishers. Cocks is also the author of Out of Action and co-author of The Saints–The Rhodesian Light Infantry.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50829032718609,"sku":"CIN0958489092G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50941431185681,"sku":"GOR002133595","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0958489092.jpg?v=1750788624"},{"product_id":"fire-force-book-chris-cocks-9798655021372","title":"Fire Force","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":50839501504785,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50839502192913,"sku":"GOR013000257","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53014167322897,"sku":"GOR014696289","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/B08BQT8TZQ.jpg?v=1751192649"},{"product_id":"deslocado-redemption-book-chris-cocks-9781791969387","title":"Deslocado Redemption","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51679033098513,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51679033295121,"sku":"NIN9781791969387","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1791969380.jpg?v=1751184934"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/en-gb\/collections\/author-books-by-chris-cocks.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}