This critical examination of post-war of independence peace settlement and veterans' programs is the first extended study of the complicit relationship between the ruling party and the veterans. It shows continuities in the relationship between President Mugabe's government and guerrilla veterans in the first seven years in contemporary Zimbabwe (1980-1987). As the recent election has demonstrated, Mugabe and the veterans continue to collaborate, using violence and liberation war rhetoric to maintain power through land invasions and political purges.

This critical examination of post-war of independence peace settlement and veterans' programs is the first extended study of the complicit relationship between the ruling party and the veterans. It shows continuities in the relationship between President Mugabe's government and guerrilla veterans in the first seven years in contemporary Zimbabwe (1980-1987). As the recent election has demonstrated, Mugabe and the veterans continue to collaborate, using violence and liberation war rhetoric to maintain power through land invasions and political purges.

In this study of Zimbabwe's rural-based war of independence, Norma Kriger is interested in the extent to which ZANU guerrillas were able to mobilize peasant support.