Lawyer Peter Polack, long-established on the Cayman scene, has returned with a new book detailing a bloody battle of the Angolan civil war.
“The Last Hot Battle of the Cold War” deals with the events of the Angolan battle in the 1980s. The fight at Cuito Cuanvale was more than just an internecine conflict, however. Forces were backed by the Soviet Union and the United States, with South African and Cuban troops involved in what became an avatar for the Cold War itself.
“[My aims with this book are, firstly,] a perhaps vain attempt to influence the course of the younger generation and generate debate instead of acquiescence. The second [aim] would be to throw light on a forgotten but important part of Caribbean history,” he says.
“[As a writer I aim] to inform or throw light on a topic which I may find personally interesting that also has the range to speak to the larger issue of our common humanity which is often beset by abuse of power or influence.”
Peter says that he has always been drawn to books from an early age, having been encouraged by his mother.
“[I] started writing letters when I attended boarding school. Attempts to be humorous naturally evolved from this into short stories or the re-telling of actual events.
“Sadly letter writing is a disappearing art among the young who are now reduced to the literary attempts of an ant,” laughs the author.
And like any good author, he already has future projects in the planning and research stage.
“I am researching two topics,” he reveals.
“[One is] Generation Condom which is best explained by this passage: Generations have risen to puberty since the outbreak of AIDS the majority having only known sex or other intimacy through a thin latex wall. This was the start of generations to come buttressed by the various forms of social media who began to distance themselves from personal contact and emotion.
“Besieged by sex education classes and twenty four hour media warnings these young minds began to put hygiene before love, prevention before spontaneity, virtual contact before real presence and written word before spoken word. The explosion of social media put up a second barrier between prospective and actual couples leading to the final emotional curtain, a heart without feeling.”
The second project, explains the writer, is about the political detention of several hundred persons during the Maurice Bishop People’s Revolutionary Government regime in Grenada between 1981 and 1983.
“The Last Hot Battle of the Cold War” by Peter Polack is released in June but copies can be pre-ordered on Amazon at a lower price right now, he tells us.
Related Videos
