TOM PIERSCIONEK recommends a remarkable series of interviews with those few and brave Israeli citizens who refuse to do military service
Fighting the elephants’ corner
BOB NEWLAND recommends an environmental thriller that uses as background the troubling realities of South Africa and Ireland
Cambodian Customs Department seized more than 3 tonnes of Ivory from Mozambique in December 2016
[Andyb3947/CC] 
The bard rests on his laurels, and swipes left and right
MARIA DUARTE cherishes the flashes of absurd humour and theme of community healing in a documentary set in a Soviet-era Black Sea sanatorium
ANGUS REID and MARIA DUARTE review The Courageous, The Cut, Christy, and On Swift Horses
TOM STONE sings the praises of one of the oldest open-air festivals in Britain
Chris Searle speaks to accordionist KAREN STREET
The Elephant Conspiracy
by Peter Hain
Muswell Press £14.99
MORNING STAR readers may be familiar with Peter Hain’s previous novel The Rhino Conspiracy. This sequel is equally if not more thrilling.
The author shares his love and expertise on the fight against apartheid both as a native South African, exiled as a child with his parents, and as chair of the Stop the Seventies Tour Committee. He continues to support the fight to overcome the apartheid legacy as honorary vice-president of Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA).
As secretary of state for Northern Ireland in the Blair government he also had an intimate understanding of The Troubles and fills this novel with realistic but exciting events firmly based in the current South African struggle against corruption and state capture.
More from this author
BOB NEWLAND doubts the political credentials, but praises the description of the impossible bind of a UN mediator in Libya in the era of Trump
BOB NEWLAND, a former London Recruit, recommends the extraordinary memoir of struggle veteran Kingsley Mamobolo
BOB NEWLAND relishes a fascinating read as well as an invaluable piece of local research
BOB NEWLAND welcomes a clear-eyed account that counts the human cost of the Irish Republican struggle for both sides
