KAPUTALA second edition 2014.pdf
It may appear that certain sections within this book, especially the concluding Part 2: ‘The East Africa Campaign, 1916–1918’ give an impression of blasé ‘matter of factness’ and that the writing on particular campaigns may seem to revel in the militaristic jargon of the source matter, however it is not my intention to make light of war’s wretchedness and definitely not to promote militarism, in fact quite the opposite. I hope all who read this account will find war abhorent and feel a great sympathy for those, black and white, forced, coerced or duped into the ranks, for whatever reason – be it straightforward intimidation or the sickly-sweet lure of drum-thumping jingoism. Cutting away all the bullshit, no matter how ‘gentlemanly’ the conduct of some officers, a lot of people died horrible deaths because the greed of competing capitalisms could not coexist on the same planet. I cannot guarantee that Arthur Beagle would have agreed with the anti-war slant of this book, but by my brief contact with him and all the accounts of others, he was a kind and good man and I sincerely hope, in hindsight, he would have. Alan Rutherford, 2014
It may appear that certain sections within this book, especially the concluding Part 2: ‘The East Africa Campaign, 1916–1918’ give an impression of blasé ‘matter of factness’ and that the writing on particular campaigns may seem to revel in the militaristic jargon of the source matter, however it is not my intention to make light of war’s wretchedness and definitely not to promote militarism, in fact quite the opposite. I hope all who read this account will find war abhorent and feel a great sympathy for those, black and white, forced, coerced or duped into the ranks, for whatever reason – be it straightforward intimidation or the sickly-sweet lure of drum-thumping jingoism. Cutting away all the bullshit, no matter how ‘gentlemanly’ the conduct of some officers, a lot of people died horrible deaths because the greed of competing capitalisms could not coexist on the same planet.
I cannot guarantee that Arthur Beagle would have agreed with the anti-war slant of this book, but by my brief contact with him and all the accounts of others, he was a kind and good man and I sincerely hope, in hindsight, he would have.
Alan Rutherford, 2014
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<strong>KAPUTALA</strong><br />
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