The Selous Scouts: Uncovering the History of Rhodesia's Counter-Insurgency Specialists

Alan C: A well-written book on a specialist subject that is informative, instructive, fascinating and accurate. Brilliant account
of an era that for better or worse changed the face and content of Southern Africa.

United Kingdom on Jul 07, 2021

Peter T.: Pity its in a magazine style / size rather than a book.

United Kingdom on May 20, 2021

Peter: Basically accurate, but written by someone who clearly was not involved on the ground or in the organization. This account favors the views of the European bureaucrats and politicians who forced the untimely end of colonial rule, and is written from the perspective of someone who was not socialized or raised in the time period of those who lived there and had to fight the war. If you’d like to read a more unbiased account, read Tim Bax’s ”three Sips of Gin”.

United States on Sep 13, 2019

Bill Knott: A slim volume, scattering information but not a definitive assessment of the Scouts.
Disappointing. Reads like it is thrown together

Canada on May 14, 2015

Bryan Martin: good

Australia on Apr 13, 2015

gt surber: Review: Selous Scouts: Rhodesian Counter-Insurgency Specialists Peter Baxter

Selous Scouts by Peter Baxter is a bit of legendary history of a regiment in the Rhodesian military in the last years of White Rhodesia. This unit was set up to be a “pseudo” guerrilla unit and an intelligence unit 1973 - 1980. 1980 was the end of white rule in Rhodesia. They would “turn” captured guerrillas from the Black Nationalism to the Rhodesian side by pointing out their three options, immediate execution, to trail and 99% chance of being hung, or turning. They would then send these men back into the battle zones and infiltration zones as “pseudo guerrillas.” There they would gather information and call in air and ground strikes on the infiltrators. Several sources show that over 68% of the killed infiltrating guerrillas in their period were killed by the Selous Scouts (over 1200 to about 400 dead).

I found the book a bit hard to understand at first, due to my confusion of which war was being discussed, and the use of terms unfamiliar to me like pseudo counter intelligence and pseudo guerrilla. After about 10% of the book, it became clear. The book is well written. The...

United States on Sep 06, 2014

Anthony Wells: A very good book. I have read a number of books about the Selous Scouts and I know of some of the Officers who served with the Regiment.

United Kingdom on Mar 28, 2014

James S. Ford: I knew of the tracking skills of the Selous Scouts and was hoping to learn more details of their experiences in the field. This book documents the orgainization of the unit and its leadership. It gives the reader an overview of the operational capabilities of the Scouts. It also discusses the successful intergration of black and white operators in the unit. The Scouts were very successful in cross border counterinsurgency operations and developed the ability to turn captured guerillas into support troops.

United States on Apr 11, 2013

T.A.L. Dozer: Let me start by saying that I have read every book publish about the Selous Scouts (or had coverage of the Selous Scouts), and this book rates at the top of the list. This is for a few reasons. The first is that this book is affordable for all to read about this deadly and world renowned elite force. Most books on the Selous Scouts are out of print and/or very expensive to obtain, for that matter most Rhodesian Bush War books are generally all very expensive to obtain. For one they are printed overseas and shipping is also very, very high. It is not uncommon for a book with shipping to be over eighty dollars which if you are not a collector would be ridicules to spend. So for me this book rates high just for this reason.

As for as content this book I will briefly hit some salient points;

The contents;

Foreword

Prelude - A Brief History of War in Rhodesia. This chapter covers briefly conflict from settlement to the fall of Rhodesia in 1980. As well, as the coverage of Rhodesian participation in WWII with the SAS/LRDG and Malaya.

Chapter One - The Formation of the Selous Scouts. This is an interesting chapter covering the evolution of the formation...

United States on Dec 24, 2011