"British born Nick Howarth attested in the SAP as a national serviceman and afterward enlisted as a regular. He was posted to the East Rand Riot Unit No. 6, promoted to sergeant and remained there for nine years. He found himself pitched into the maelstrom of murder and chaos of what the ANC euphemistically called the 'People's War' that was designed to make South Africa ungovernable. He soon found himself like piggy in the middle in a full-scale civil war between the ANC and the Zulu based Inkatha Freedom Party. Many policemen, both black and white, were killed. Nick Howarth's story is a microcosm of the experiences of all South African riot policemen of the time"--Publisher's note.