- Softcover
- New
Seller: Rarewaves.com USA, London, London, United KingdomRarewaves.com USA
AbeBooks seller since June 11, 2025
Condition: New
£ 15.07
Quantity: Over 20 available
Add to basketSeller Inventory # LU-9798233496622
- Title
- The War Inside
- Author
- Stephen Castle
- Publisher
- Stephen Castle
- Publication year
- 2025
- Condition
- New
- Binding
- Paperback
- Language
- English
- ISBN 13
- 9798233496622
- Item weight
- 150 grams
- Dimensions
- 13.97 x 0.71 x 21.59 cm
The War Inside: Surviving the South African Border War Twice is a raw, darkly funny, and deeply human memoir of a young South African who went to war at nineteen - and then had to survive it all over again at home.
Stephen Castle grew up fast after his father died when he was fifteen. School was a blur of bad decisions, fast cars, rugby, rowing, and being the "bad influence" friend. Then the brown envelope from the South African Defence Force arrived, and life shifted from mischief to mortars.
From Potchefstroom basics to the northern border, Castle served as an 81mm mortar observer with 3 SAI and later with 201 Battalion and the Barakwena. He walked long patrols, called in fire missions, and watched friends get hurt and killed. Later, as a Citizen Force soldier, the war came home: desert battle drills at Lohatla, township duty in Soweto, and night operations in places like Mamelodi, where the line between "enemy" and "neighbour" blurred.
On paper, he came back in one piece. In reality, he brought the war inside with him.
At home, his wife and children lived with a man who woke up shouting, patrolled his own house at 2 a.m., exploded in black rages over small things, and then insisted he was "fine". Only years later would words like "trauma" and "PTSD" enter the conversation - and only because the people who loved him refused to accept his silence as an answer.
The War Inside is not a political tract or a military history. It is one man's honest account of:
- Growing up in South Africa as the Border War and internal conflict shaped every family in the country.
- Serving as a young infantryman and mortar observer on the South West African/Namibian border.
- Returning as a Citizen Force soldier to face desert exercises, township patrols and night raids on home soil.
- Marrying his school sweetheart and trying - and often failing - to keep the war out of his marriage and family.
- Slowly recognising the signs of PTSD and learning what it means to seek help and live with the ghosts instead of being driven by them.
Told in the first person with dry humour and unflinching clarity, The War Inside will resonate with anyone who has:
- Served in the military or waited for someone who did.
- Lived with the invisible wounds of trauma, anger and nightmares.
- Wondered why some wars end on paper long before they end in a person's head.
If you are interested in the South African Border War, SADF conscription, life as a national serviceman, or the long shadow of PTSD on marriage and fatherhood, this memoir offers a candid, unsentimental and ultimately hopeful story of what it really means to come home twice.
"Synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Rarewaves.com USA
London, London, United Kingdom
AbeBooks seller since June 11, 2025
Shipping rates from United Kingdom to U.S.A.
| Item | 9 to 14 business days | 9 to 14 business days |
|---|---|---|
| First item | £ 0.00 | £ 0.00 |
Payment methods
Seller's business information
RAREWAVES.COM LIMITED
Elsley Court, 20-22 Great Titchfield Street
London, United Kingdom W1W 8BE
Right of withdrawal
If you are a consumer you can withdraw from the contract in accordance with the following. Consumer means any natural person who is acting for purposes which are outside his trade, business, craft or profession.
Information regarding the right of withdrawal
Statutory right to withdraw
You have the right to withdraw from this contract within 14 days without giving any reason.
The withdrawal period will expire after 14 days from the day on which you acquire, or a third party other than the carrier and indicated by you acquires, physical possession of the last good or the last lot or piece.
To exercise the right of withdrawal, electronically fill in and submit a clear statement on our website, under "My Purchases" in "My Account". We will communicate to you an acknowledgement of receipt of such a withdrawal on a durable medium (e.g. by e-mail) without delay.
To meet the withdrawal deadline, it is sufficient for you to send your communication concerning your exercise of the right of withdrawal before the withdrawal period has expired.
Effects of withdrawal
If you withdraw from this contract, we will reimburse to you all payments received from you, including the costs of delivery (except for the supplementary costs arising if you chose a type of delivery other than the least expensive type of standard delivery offered by us).
We may make a deduction from the reimbursement for loss in value of any goods supplied, if the loss is the result of unnecessary handling by you.
We will make the reimbursement without undue delay, and not later than 14 days after the day on which we are informed about your decision to withdraw from this contract.
We will make the reimbursement using the same means of payment as you used for the initial transaction, unless you have expressly agreed otherwise; in any event, you will not incur any fees as a result of such reimbursement.
We may withhold reimbursement until we have received the goods back, or you have supplied evidence of having sent back the goods, whichever is the earliest.
You shall send back the goods or hand them over to Rarewaves.com USA, Unit 144 The Lightbox, 111 Power Road, W4 5PY, London, London, United Kingdom, without undue delay and in any event not later than 14 days from the day on which you communicate your withdrawal from this contract to us. The deadline is met if you send back the goods before the period of 14 days has expired. You will have to bear the direct cost of returning the goods. You are only liable for any diminished value of the goods resulting from the handling other than what is necessary to establish the nature, characteristics and functioning of the goods.
Exceptions to the right of withdrawal
The right of withdrawal does not apply to:
- The delivery of newspapers, journals or magazines with the exception of subscription contracts; and
- The supply of digital content which is not supplied on a tangible medium (e.g. on a CD or DVD) if you accepted when you placed your order that we could start to deliver it, and that you could not withdraw once delivery had started.
Shipping terms
Please note that we do not offer Priority shipping to any country.
We currently do not ship to the below countries:
Russia
Belarus
Ukraine
Please do not attempt to place orders with any of these countries as a ship to address - they will be cancelled.