Township Tales presents
War in Peace
“Some books entertain you. Some educate you. And then, once in a rare while, a book grabs you by the throat.”
About the book
This is not polished fiction
War in Peace by Nick Howarth is gritty, courageous, personal and brutally honest. It reads like a man finally opening a pressure valve that has been sealed shut for decades.
“Once you start reading, it is very hard to put down.”
From tribal violence and slaughter, and political unrest to riot lines, burning streets, terrifying situations, survival and brotherhood, the book takes you directly into South Africa’s most volatile years through the eyes of someone who stood right in the middle of it all and tried not to blink.
This is not polished Hollywood fiction written from the safety of hindsight. It gives a perspective few people have ever heard and much fewer have lived through.
What makes this book powerful is not just the violence or the historical backdrop. It is the humanity behind it. The young athlete whose life took a completely different path. The husband and father trying to survive a world spiralling into madness. The policemen carrying burdens nobody spoke about afterwards. The moments of humour and grief, regret, loyalty and chaos make the story feel painfully real.
Whether you agree with the politics of the era or not, this book forces you to confront the reality that history is rarely as simple as slogans and headlines.
Inside the book
What awaits you
Chaos & survival
Riot lines, burning streets and decisions made in seconds that define a lifetime.
Brotherhood
The bonds forged under pressure that no civilian life could ever replicate.
Raw history
South Africa’s most volatile years seen from inside the smoke, not from the sidelines.
Humanity
Grief, humour, regret, loyalty and the full weight of what it means to be human under pressure.
Meet the author
Nick Howarth
Nick Howarth was not just an observer of South Africa’s most turbulent decades, he was inside them. As a young athlete turned policeman, he found himself on the front lines of a country tearing itself apart, carrying out a job that would shape every year that followed.
War in Peace is the account he has carried privately for decades — finally committed to the page with unflinching honesty. It is the story of a man, a uniform, a fractured nation, and the impossible task of keeping the peace when peace had already broken down.
Nick Howarth lives in South Africa.
Ook in Afrikaans
Onlus en Oorlog
War in Peace is also published in Afrikaans, as Onlus en Oorlog — the same account, told in Nick Howarth’s other language.
It comes in the same two bindings at the same price as the English editions: R475 for the softcover, R675 for the hardcover, plus a flat R120 a parcel to anywhere in South Africa. The Afrikaans printing is bound and posted here, so for the moment it goes to South African addresses only.
Get your copy
Order War in Peace
The softcover is printed close to you and posted from there. Choose a delivery country and the prices switch to your own currency; postage is worked out for that country and shown before you pay. Inside South Africa it is a flat R120 a parcel, one copy or ten. The hardcover is South Africa only for the moment — it is priced and coming elsewhere, just not printing yet. The Afrikaans editions are printed and posted here, so they appear once South Africa is the delivery country.
Orders are dispatched within a few working days of payment clearing. Payment is settled in South African rand — where you are quoted another currency, the order form shows you the rand figure too before you pay. For bulk or corporate orders, get in touch.