This is an exploration of the conflicts in Mozambique and Angola since they gained independence in 1975-6. It provides an analysis of the interconnected roles of social structure; external interventions; the particular patterns of military recruitment, conditioning, logistics and strategy that characterize Unita and Renamo; and the vulnerability and mistakes made by the new Anglolan and Mozambican states. The analysis disentangles responsibility for the enormous suffering of these years. It also outlines a new kind of Third World warfare characteristic of the "contra" period - neither classic guerrilla warfare nor straightforward external aggressions; instead one that comprises elements of civil war, but dominated by the initiatives of regional and global external powers.