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The Wonga Coup: Guns, Thugs and a Ruthless Determination to Create Mayhem in an Oil-Rich Corner of Africa
Equatorial Guinea is a tiny country roughly the size of the state of Maryland. Humid, jungle covered, and rife with unpleasant diseases, natives call it Devil Island. Its president in 2004, Obiang Nguema, had been accused of cannibalism, belief in witchcraft, mass murder, billiondollar corruption, and general rule by terror. With so little to recommend it, why in March 2004 was Equatorial Guinea the target of a group of salty British, South African and Zimbabwean mercenaries, travelling on an American-registered ex-National Guard plane specially adapted for military purposes, that was originally flown to Africa by American pilots? The real motive lay deep below the ocean oil. In The Dogs of War , Frederick Forsyth effectively described an attempt by mercenaries to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea — in 1972. And the chain of events surrounding the night of March 7, 2004, is a rare case of life imitating art—or, at least, life imitating a 1970s thriller—in almost uncanny detail. With a cast of characters worthy of a remake of Wild Geese and a plot as mazy as it was unlikely, The Wonga Coup is a tale of venality, overarching vanity and greed whose example speaks to the problems of the entire African continent.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2006
30 people are currently reading
657 people want to read
About the author
Adam Roberts
4 books5 followersAdam Roberts spent six years in India as the Economist's South East Asia correspondent based in Delhi. Previously the Southern Africa correspondent in Johannesburg and the News Editor of Economist.com, he is now the European business and finance correspondent in Paris. He is the author of the Economist's special report on India and of The Wonga Coup (PublicAffairs 2006).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
March 10, 2016
I’ve been doing this project of learning about Africa one nation at a time for about a year and a half now, and I have read a lot of academic books. In some of these small countries, the only people doing the research are those looking for more and more obscure dissertation topics. I expected to find the same when I started looking at Equatorial Guinea, population 757,014. Then I found a true story that may as well be a thriller, involving (among many others) spy novelists Frederick Forsythe and Jeffrey Archer as well as Mark Thatcher, son of the Prime Minister.
Whoa.
Adam Roberts covered Southern Africa for The Economist when he heard the story about a fantastic coup. Within a day, it was global news.
“Wonga” is British slang for money. And Equatorial Guinea has characteristics that made it look ripe for takeover that would generate tons of money for the plotters, had they succeeded. The country is a former Spanish colony in West Africa. It became independent in 1968. In 1979, coup led by Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo took power, and the country fell into dictatorship and plunder. The people suffered while Nguema Mbasogo and his family lived large, with lots of cars, mansions in Paris, overseas bank accounts – that sort of thing. If you want the stereotype of a basket-case African nation, this is it.
The GDP per capita of Equatorial Guinea is high – $25,700 – but most people are poor subsistence farmers. The country has oil, and the benefits accrue to the Nguema Mbasogo family and affiliates or to the oil companies, not to the average citizen.
The opportunity that presented itself to former British army officer Simon Mann was this: a dictator that no one wanted around sat on a rich pool of oil. An exile in Spain claimed that he was the rightful ruler of Equatorial Guinea. If Mann could get together enough people and military equipment, he could take over. The people of Equatorial Guinea would get a better ruler, and he could make a lot of money from the oil revenues. What could possibly go wrong?
Mann had to raise a lot of money, and he did from different British and South African people who sensed an opportunity for profit and adventure. These people included Mark Thatcher.
The investors money went to buy used equipment, of not always good quality, and to hire a lot of soldiers-for-hire. So many people in so many countries (England, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Angola, Spain, and the U.S.) were involved that the costs kept rising. Even worse, lots of people talked, and word got back to the Equatorial Guinean government.
The coup failed. The plotters and mercenaries were imprisoned. Nguema Mbasogo is still in power.
And the British tabloids had a field day with the story. It fabulous tale was made into a TV movie in Britain, and rumors have floated that a big-budget film directed by Ridley Scott is in the works.
Meanwhile, the people in Equatorial Guinea suffered in poverty while their rulers and families drove around Paris in ridiculous cars. Some of the corruption is being addressed, but it has been slow, and this is not a place for investors any time soon.
(Reposted from my blog, http://annlogue.com/equatorial-guinea...)
Whoa.
Adam Roberts covered Southern Africa for The Economist when he heard the story about a fantastic coup. Within a day, it was global news.
“Wonga” is British slang for money. And Equatorial Guinea has characteristics that made it look ripe for takeover that would generate tons of money for the plotters, had they succeeded. The country is a former Spanish colony in West Africa. It became independent in 1968. In 1979, coup led by Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo took power, and the country fell into dictatorship and plunder. The people suffered while Nguema Mbasogo and his family lived large, with lots of cars, mansions in Paris, overseas bank accounts – that sort of thing. If you want the stereotype of a basket-case African nation, this is it.
The GDP per capita of Equatorial Guinea is high – $25,700 – but most people are poor subsistence farmers. The country has oil, and the benefits accrue to the Nguema Mbasogo family and affiliates or to the oil companies, not to the average citizen.
The opportunity that presented itself to former British army officer Simon Mann was this: a dictator that no one wanted around sat on a rich pool of oil. An exile in Spain claimed that he was the rightful ruler of Equatorial Guinea. If Mann could get together enough people and military equipment, he could take over. The people of Equatorial Guinea would get a better ruler, and he could make a lot of money from the oil revenues. What could possibly go wrong?
Mann had to raise a lot of money, and he did from different British and South African people who sensed an opportunity for profit and adventure. These people included Mark Thatcher.
The investors money went to buy used equipment, of not always good quality, and to hire a lot of soldiers-for-hire. So many people in so many countries (England, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Angola, Spain, and the U.S.) were involved that the costs kept rising. Even worse, lots of people talked, and word got back to the Equatorial Guinean government.
The coup failed. The plotters and mercenaries were imprisoned. Nguema Mbasogo is still in power.
And the British tabloids had a field day with the story. It fabulous tale was made into a TV movie in Britain, and rumors have floated that a big-budget film directed by Ridley Scott is in the works.
Meanwhile, the people in Equatorial Guinea suffered in poverty while their rulers and families drove around Paris in ridiculous cars. Some of the corruption is being addressed, but it has been slow, and this is not a place for investors any time soon.
(Reposted from my blog, http://annlogue.com/equatorial-guinea...)
March 18, 2009
It is amazing what white men think they can still get away with in modern Africa. Only African heads of state can act with the sort of complete impunity that Simon Mann tried to get away with in his attempt to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea.
February 6, 2024
a really interesting book about a failed coup attempt in equatorial guinea in 2004. Felt the storytelling in the book was not particularly good though.
Read
January 6, 2015So far, I've read up until Chapter 15 and I won't recommend it to anyone for a combination of part or all of the reasons below.
1. Unsubstantiated Claims. The author makes tons of outlandish claims but they're never substantiated. For example, In chapter 8 he claims the existence of contracts between the coup plotters and Mr Moto yet he never presents copies of these contracts in his "primary documents." How do we know the alledged contracts exist(ed)?
2. Sources. What are his sources? Where are his footnotes? How can we check his sources?
Even autobiographies (First hand accounts) provide more sources and footnotes.
3. The writer and his subject. One who isn't careful might read the book thinking the author was a party to the events he's describing.
Other parts of the book read like a bad gossip column about the adventures of mercenaries in tropical Africa intended for an audience hungry for stories about adventures in Africa.
Why people read it and think it is well researched is beyond my (mis)understanding. The Sunday Times (UK) writes that The Wonga Coup is "Riveting and Superbly researched" And adds, "A brilliant, mordant, blackly comic read."
I'm amazed at the Sunday Times (UK) this is the kind of work they qualify "Riveting and superbly researched."
Maybe words stopped having meaning but this level of researched won't get anyone pass Graduate School, maybe not even in Equatorial Guinea.
4. Africa seen by the World. In the final anaylysis, this book is anything but serious work let alone "superbly researched."
It is one in a long list presenting exaggerated stories about Africa without feeling the need for substantiation. This because to many out there, Africa is still the "Dark Continent" where stories about the surreal and fantastic still enchant the imagination of many at the expense of Reality and History. How else explain the author echoing innuendos about Mr. Obiang Nguema eating testicles of political opponents supposedly to remain in power.
But then again, Africa is the victim of different sorts of mercenaries; the white collar ones at the head of companies, the blue-collar-gun-toting ones and last but not the least, the pen-toting ones under the disguise of journalists, writers or pseudo-intellectuals.
1. Unsubstantiated Claims. The author makes tons of outlandish claims but they're never substantiated. For example, In chapter 8 he claims the existence of contracts between the coup plotters and Mr Moto yet he never presents copies of these contracts in his "primary documents." How do we know the alledged contracts exist(ed)?
2. Sources. What are his sources? Where are his footnotes? How can we check his sources?
Even autobiographies (First hand accounts) provide more sources and footnotes.
3. The writer and his subject. One who isn't careful might read the book thinking the author was a party to the events he's describing.
Other parts of the book read like a bad gossip column about the adventures of mercenaries in tropical Africa intended for an audience hungry for stories about adventures in Africa.
Why people read it and think it is well researched is beyond my (mis)understanding. The Sunday Times (UK) writes that The Wonga Coup is "Riveting and Superbly researched" And adds, "A brilliant, mordant, blackly comic read."
I'm amazed at the Sunday Times (UK) this is the kind of work they qualify "Riveting and superbly researched."
Maybe words stopped having meaning but this level of researched won't get anyone pass Graduate School, maybe not even in Equatorial Guinea.
4. Africa seen by the World. In the final anaylysis, this book is anything but serious work let alone "superbly researched."
It is one in a long list presenting exaggerated stories about Africa without feeling the need for substantiation. This because to many out there, Africa is still the "Dark Continent" where stories about the surreal and fantastic still enchant the imagination of many at the expense of Reality and History. How else explain the author echoing innuendos about Mr. Obiang Nguema eating testicles of political opponents supposedly to remain in power.
But then again, Africa is the victim of different sorts of mercenaries; the white collar ones at the head of companies, the blue-collar-gun-toting ones and last but not the least, the pen-toting ones under the disguise of journalists, writers or pseudo-intellectuals.
July 8, 2008
This book was made more enjoyable by my having recently finished Robert Klitgaard's Tropical Gangsters, which is a book about World Bank/IMF development activities in Equitorial Guinea nearly 20 years before the activities described in The Wonga Coup. I'm not sure if I would have given this one three stars had I not already had an interest in finding out where the country had ended up after the difficulties I read about in Klitgaard's book.
Certainly don't read The Wonga Coup if you have a thirst for the more swashbuckling aspects of coup plotters (and/or coup executors). It just doesn't read that way. This is more about financial transactions, materials acquisition, and careless, drunken talk in restaurants and bars.
Nonetheless, The Wonga Coup was interesting enough reading for a long flight. I'd never been exposed to the coup-plotting machinations of European adventurers in modern Africa, so the book was in that sense a view into a world I didn't know existed. I suppose there's some useful information in there if you ever want to plot your own African coup, though I think Adam Roberts, the author, would probably discourage the book's use as a guide or manual (and perhaps recommend others instead).
Certainly don't read The Wonga Coup if you have a thirst for the more swashbuckling aspects of coup plotters (and/or coup executors). It just doesn't read that way. This is more about financial transactions, materials acquisition, and careless, drunken talk in restaurants and bars.
Nonetheless, The Wonga Coup was interesting enough reading for a long flight. I'd never been exposed to the coup-plotting machinations of European adventurers in modern Africa, so the book was in that sense a view into a world I didn't know existed. I suppose there's some useful information in there if you ever want to plot your own African coup, though I think Adam Roberts, the author, would probably discourage the book's use as a guide or manual (and perhaps recommend others instead).
September 27, 2008
It's good, especially if you're interested in energy politics, or, even better, if you have a secret fascination with mercenaries. The actual story is riveting, and Roberts has clearly exhaustively researched everything. Also provides an interesting look at modern African politics.
On the other hand, it's too long by half, it really drags in parts, and there are way too many people to keep track of, especially if you read it slowly like I did.
For international relations types like myself, I'd recommend that you check it out. For others, maybe not so much.
On the other hand, it's too long by half, it really drags in parts, and there are way too many people to keep track of, especially if you read it slowly like I did.
For international relations types like myself, I'd recommend that you check it out. For others, maybe not so much.
April 7, 2023
If you’re going to plot a coup, it’s a good idea to keep it secret. The scale and complexity of this one along with the cavalier attitude and the false assumptions of the plotters caused this one to fall apart before it even got under way, landing most of them in prison in Zimbabwe and Equatorial Guinea - both hell holes. It is a tale of greed, bravado and government complicity. The whole idea was generated by Frederick Forsyths’s novel “The Dogs of War” which in turn was the based on the actual plot for an earlier failed coup attempt in the same place in the early 70s financed by Frederick Forsyth. Ironically, he made more money from the book than from the coup attempt. Perhaps the Wonga coup plotters should have taken note.
March 16, 2017
This book has me thinking about justice. It's the story of a group of mercenaries who try to topple the ruler of Equatorial Guinea, who seems to be pretty much one of the worst leaders on the planet. The coup fails spectacularly and all the guns for hire are arrested, and the ensuing trial brings out links to big banks, oil companies, and famous figures (notably Margaret Thatcher's ne-er-do-well son).
It's unclear who the bad guys are here. The coup isn't exactly being put on for moral reasons, but would things have been better, on the whole, if it succeeded? Do we root for that? And in the end, is there any justice at all for the banks who finally get caught laundering ill-gotten money, and are fined the amount of about one of their many high-value transactions? Do the oil companies suffer a single bad effect of all this, really?
No, no, and no, I suppose. Which is sad... but also seems true to form to the modern world, where big enough crimes really do put people above the law.
The cast of characters is pretty neat, anyway -- crackerjack pilots, shady novelists, guns for hire, despots, and so on. The common man of Equatorial Guinea is pretty much erased from the narrative, unfortunately. But that seems to fit with the theme -- this is a story about the rich and powerful screwing around with each other, often not quite taking their own story seriously, on the backs of everyone else.
It's unclear who the bad guys are here. The coup isn't exactly being put on for moral reasons, but would things have been better, on the whole, if it succeeded? Do we root for that? And in the end, is there any justice at all for the banks who finally get caught laundering ill-gotten money, and are fined the amount of about one of their many high-value transactions? Do the oil companies suffer a single bad effect of all this, really?
No, no, and no, I suppose. Which is sad... but also seems true to form to the modern world, where big enough crimes really do put people above the law.
The cast of characters is pretty neat, anyway -- crackerjack pilots, shady novelists, guns for hire, despots, and so on. The common man of Equatorial Guinea is pretty much erased from the narrative, unfortunately. But that seems to fit with the theme -- this is a story about the rich and powerful screwing around with each other, often not quite taking their own story seriously, on the backs of everyone else.
December 19, 2022
A very interesting story - I remember this on the news although I didn't follow it much at the time. It is quite incredible how this bunch of chancers tried to pull off a coup like this, with several well-known names in the mix - Brits Mark Thatcher, Frederick Forsythe, and Jeffery Archer - crazy stuff. The book is pretty well written but there are definitely inaccuracies, and some unnecessary detail which seems to be included to show how much research the author did but doesn't add to understanding the plot. Anyway, a good read, and eye-opening about a certain layer of goings-on in the African continent.
March 11, 2018
Audiobook version
A well detailed book about the failed 2004 mercenary overthrow of Equatorial Guinea. This failed armed coup is best remembered because it involved the former British Primer Minister Margaret Thatcher‘s son, Sir Mark Thatcher, as one of the financial supporters of the coup. The author interview many of the individuals involved in the adventure. It is a worth while read if you are interested in seeing how a plot to overthrow a country begins and the unseen preparations that that it takes to organize such an event, and how easily it can fall apart.
A well detailed book about the failed 2004 mercenary overthrow of Equatorial Guinea. This failed armed coup is best remembered because it involved the former British Primer Minister Margaret Thatcher‘s son, Sir Mark Thatcher, as one of the financial supporters of the coup. The author interview many of the individuals involved in the adventure. It is a worth while read if you are interested in seeing how a plot to overthrow a country begins and the unseen preparations that that it takes to organize such an event, and how easily it can fall apart.
September 17, 2017
This is an amazing story of a really unbelievable (but true) event - a coup in Equatorial Guinea (a shitty country in West Africa run by cartoonish dictators from an island, propped up by oil wealth, while their population starves), a coup which was described in detail in a fictional book from two decades earlier ("Dogs of War" by Forsyth).
Interesting to read about the practical details of their planning, the stupid things which went wrong, and the ultimately unsuccessful outcome.
Interesting to read about the practical details of their planning, the stupid things which went wrong, and the ultimately unsuccessful outcome.
February 9, 2018
I had only the vaguest recollection of some sort of coup attempt involving Mark Thatcher in the early 2000s before i stumbled upon this in a used bookshop. great reporting by The Economist's Africa correspondent. fascinating look at mercenary subculture in southern Africa. i found myself thinking often, really, this was just 13 years ago?? it's the kind of elite-british-men-behaving-badly story that i think of as a generation removed. but seems that was naive optimism.
September 24, 2020
A bunch of very unpleasant British and South African mercenaries decide to overthrow the kleptomaniac ruler of an oil-rich African state so that they can plunder the country instead of him.
Nobody comes out of this sorry tale with any credit, including Mark Thatcher and Jeffrey Archer, who have a bit-part in the story. But it is a well-written account of a very filthy business. Oddly compulsive reading.
Nobody comes out of this sorry tale with any credit, including Mark Thatcher and Jeffrey Archer, who have a bit-part in the story. But it is a well-written account of a very filthy business. Oddly compulsive reading.
July 18, 2022
The Wonga Coup: Guns, Thugs and a Ruthless Determination to Create Mayhem in an Oil-Rich Corner of Africa ** Read in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea (July 2022)
July 2, 2025
Very interesting but has a bizarre strain of eurocentrism running through it. This book keeps getting confused and thinking the coup orchestrators are the good guys when really this story is essentially warhammer 40k.
August 17, 2022
This is a 2.5 review. The story could be a longform article, but it stretches through ~300 pages.
October 5, 2022
All these books that have the same date for the summer of ‘22 are because I was locked out of Goodreads and didn’t note the day I read the books.
August 18, 2024
Excellent book about a real life attempted coup of a small country in Africa. It is basically the real life version of The Dogs of War.
March 26, 2025
Informative
December 29, 2014
Frederick Forsyth's The Dogs of War details an attempt to overthrow the government of a small African country — in the book called Zangaro, but well known to be Equatorial Guinea. And when I say “details”, I mean sets out in painstaking detail just how exactly such a thing could happen. And when I say “could happen”, I mean has been attempted. Twice.
The first time was the attempted coup in 1973 that mirrored the book in almost every way — other than in its failure — and of which Forsyth himself was almost certainly both the lead funder, and strategic mastermind. At the time the country was very poor and very repressive, and their goal was to replace its deranged dictator with the Biafran leader, Ojukwu.
By the second attempt, in 2004, the country’s fortunes had improved significantly, having discovered substantial quantities of oil. It had grown to become the third largest oil producer in Africa, enabling it to have held the position of the world's fastest growing economy for a decade. But it was still very repressive, the previous deranged dictator having been replaced by another, just as deranged (with a reputation for eating the testicles and brains of his erstwhile political opponents), and much of the country’s incoming money was swiftly finding its way straight back out again into his overseas bank-accounts, leaving the country’s citizens still amongst the poorest in the world.
This time the plot was led by Simon Mann, previously a British SAS officer, who had operated a multi-million-dollar mercenary operation across multiple African countries during the 1990s. Assisting him in at least some way (the exact details are still disputed) was Mark Thatcher, son of former British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. This, along with the involvement of a "J. H. Archer", generally taken to be disgraced British politician (and best selling author, including of a story called The Coup) Jeffrey Archer, helped ensure that of the ten attempted coups worldwide in 2004, this was the one that kept everyone’s attention.
Luckily for the author of this book, it’s also the one with the most supporting documentation, including not just contracts between many of the significant figures, but also lots of the plans for what to do after the coup — the group wisely noting that gaining power might be hard enough, but keeping it would be harder still, as the 2003 “successful" coup in São Tomé, that had lasted barely a week, had shown.
Unluckily for us, however, the author of this book seems to have been the wrong person to tie it all together for us. There’s a fascinating story here, but it’s buried in a massive chronological info-dump with virtually no sense of narrative or plotting. The epilogue and postscript start to raise some interesting questions about the mismanagement of resource-rich countries, and the role of mercenaries throughout Africa, and even sets this coup up as an explicit counter-argument to Paul Collier's suggestion (in The Bottom Billion) that dictators should sometimes be removed forcibly. Robert’s argument here that coups are never a good idea is somewhat odd, as he expresses dismay several times during the book that the 1973 “Forsyth” coup had failed. But either way, this end-of-book philosophising comes too little, too late to salvage what should really have been a much more interesting tale.
The first time was the attempted coup in 1973 that mirrored the book in almost every way — other than in its failure — and of which Forsyth himself was almost certainly both the lead funder, and strategic mastermind. At the time the country was very poor and very repressive, and their goal was to replace its deranged dictator with the Biafran leader, Ojukwu.
By the second attempt, in 2004, the country’s fortunes had improved significantly, having discovered substantial quantities of oil. It had grown to become the third largest oil producer in Africa, enabling it to have held the position of the world's fastest growing economy for a decade. But it was still very repressive, the previous deranged dictator having been replaced by another, just as deranged (with a reputation for eating the testicles and brains of his erstwhile political opponents), and much of the country’s incoming money was swiftly finding its way straight back out again into his overseas bank-accounts, leaving the country’s citizens still amongst the poorest in the world.
This time the plot was led by Simon Mann, previously a British SAS officer, who had operated a multi-million-dollar mercenary operation across multiple African countries during the 1990s. Assisting him in at least some way (the exact details are still disputed) was Mark Thatcher, son of former British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. This, along with the involvement of a "J. H. Archer", generally taken to be disgraced British politician (and best selling author, including of a story called The Coup) Jeffrey Archer, helped ensure that of the ten attempted coups worldwide in 2004, this was the one that kept everyone’s attention.
Luckily for the author of this book, it’s also the one with the most supporting documentation, including not just contracts between many of the significant figures, but also lots of the plans for what to do after the coup — the group wisely noting that gaining power might be hard enough, but keeping it would be harder still, as the 2003 “successful" coup in São Tomé, that had lasted barely a week, had shown.
Unluckily for us, however, the author of this book seems to have been the wrong person to tie it all together for us. There’s a fascinating story here, but it’s buried in a massive chronological info-dump with virtually no sense of narrative or plotting. The epilogue and postscript start to raise some interesting questions about the mismanagement of resource-rich countries, and the role of mercenaries throughout Africa, and even sets this coup up as an explicit counter-argument to Paul Collier's suggestion (in The Bottom Billion) that dictators should sometimes be removed forcibly. Robert’s argument here that coups are never a good idea is somewhat odd, as he expresses dismay several times during the book that the 1973 “Forsyth” coup had failed. But either way, this end-of-book philosophising comes too little, too late to salvage what should really have been a much more interesting tale.
January 23, 2014
The Wonga Coup: Guns, Thugs and a Ruthless Determination to Create Mayhem in an Oil-Rich Corner of Africa had me hooked straight from the title. Seriously, guns, thugs, and ruthless determination? I’m usually satisfied if a book provides me with just one, but all three? Seriously though, this story has all the intrigue and mysterious men of adventure of a Frederick Forsyth novel, only this one is true. The story follows Simon Mann, an Eton educated and SAS trained British aristocrat member of the South African expat community turned soldier of fortune, and his 2004 plot to overthrow Obiang Nguema, the President of Equatorial Guinea.
The story is fascinating and Adam Roberts, the author and a correspondent for the Economist, does a remarkable job weaving together disparate strands, from the conditions within Equatorial Guinea to Mann’s past as a solider for hire in Angola to his assembling of a professional army to the wide group of companies and individuals who were exposed as financiers of this operation. It also goes into the past of Equatorial Guinea and explains that Mann’s was not the first attempt on this tiny country’s government. Frederick Forsyth himself, of Night of the Jackal fame, also funded and planned a coup that, when it failed, was the inspiration for his book The Dogs of War.*
Roberts tells a tight yarn but occasionally zooms in too far, losing the momentum of the plot in the minutiae of its moving parts. It also feels as though each chapter was written as a stand-alone article with at least a couple paragraphs re-canvassing territory that had already been well trodden previously in the book. However, with the panoply of characters, any one of which could be the star of his own book, that Roberts has to sort through, he can be forgiven for doubling back occasionally.
The Wonga Coup gives a crackling and insightful look into a forgotten corner of the world that, while successfully escaping colonialism, is still suffering from the covetous and grandiose ambitions of foreigners.
*If 13 year old me knew that one of the books that had inspired daydreams of being a corrupt-government toppling superspy was based on a true, if failed, story, I can’t promise that I would have run off and tried to lIve a James Bond origin story, but the odds would have skyrocketed.
The story is fascinating and Adam Roberts, the author and a correspondent for the Economist, does a remarkable job weaving together disparate strands, from the conditions within Equatorial Guinea to Mann’s past as a solider for hire in Angola to his assembling of a professional army to the wide group of companies and individuals who were exposed as financiers of this operation. It also goes into the past of Equatorial Guinea and explains that Mann’s was not the first attempt on this tiny country’s government. Frederick Forsyth himself, of Night of the Jackal fame, also funded and planned a coup that, when it failed, was the inspiration for his book The Dogs of War.*
Roberts tells a tight yarn but occasionally zooms in too far, losing the momentum of the plot in the minutiae of its moving parts. It also feels as though each chapter was written as a stand-alone article with at least a couple paragraphs re-canvassing territory that had already been well trodden previously in the book. However, with the panoply of characters, any one of which could be the star of his own book, that Roberts has to sort through, he can be forgiven for doubling back occasionally.
The Wonga Coup gives a crackling and insightful look into a forgotten corner of the world that, while successfully escaping colonialism, is still suffering from the covetous and grandiose ambitions of foreigners.
*If 13 year old me knew that one of the books that had inspired daydreams of being a corrupt-government toppling superspy was based on a true, if failed, story, I can’t promise that I would have run off and tried to lIve a James Bond origin story, but the odds would have skyrocketed.
July 15, 2012
I read this after it was a choice with my African book group and I missed the discussion, but wanted to read the book. It's a very well researched book about a group who attempted a coup in Equatorial Guinea in 2004. I ended up skimming parts of it as there were a lot of details that bogged down the reading. I would recommend it for anyone particularly interested in EG or anyone planning a coup in an African country. It's kind of sobering what the perpetrators faced after getting caught and I would think it would make anyone think twice about trying this. I wonder if the people of EG would have been better off if the coup had been successful -- they've had such corrupt leadership and have suffered as a result. But Mann and others planning the coup didn't have the EG citizens' well being at heart -- they wanted to enrich themselves with the oil money, so it would likely have been another case of African leaders robbing the citizens of proceeds from the country's natural resources.
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November 7, 2019It never occurred to me that mercenaries plan a coup like others plan a party. They have a checklist and tap the experts in certain areas, they plan logistics, and they make sure there are lots of low-level workers to get things done during the event.
This book also made me aware of the horrors inflicted on the people of Equatorial Guinea by their rulers and how greed makes it impossible to share even the great wealth that oil brings.
The author's outrage occasionally spills into his writing and interrupts the storyline, but it’s understandable because so much outrageousness is going on it can make your head explode.
This book also made me aware of the horrors inflicted on the people of Equatorial Guinea by their rulers and how greed makes it impossible to share even the great wealth that oil brings.
The author's outrage occasionally spills into his writing and interrupts the storyline, but it’s understandable because so much outrageousness is going on it can make your head explode.
October 24, 2009
I loved this meticulously researched book by The Economist's man in Africa about the attempt by a group of mercenary adventurers to stage a coup in Equatorial Guinea. Along the way the story touches on Mark Thatcher, Margaret's son, and the novelist Jeffrey Archer (maybe). It's a fascinating story, well told, and infuriating when one considers both the politics involved and the overriding problems of Africa because of exactly the type of post-colonial economic neo-colonialism and corruption described in this book.
August 9, 2011
Fun and revealing story about how mercenaries tried to stage a coup in a tiny African country in 2003. Apparently this is a regular thing that happens in Africa.
The writing got a little bogged down and expository in the middle of the book. I was hoping for more action but instead I got page after page of "this guy said this, the other guy said that" stuff. Stil, overall the book was fun.
Also I learned that Margaret Thatcher's son is an a-hole, and he was involved in financing the coup. Ridiculous.
The writing got a little bogged down and expository in the middle of the book. I was hoping for more action but instead I got page after page of "this guy said this, the other guy said that" stuff. Stil, overall the book was fun.
Also I learned that Margaret Thatcher's son is an a-hole, and he was involved in financing the coup. Ridiculous.
November 10, 2008
I vaguely remember news stories about this when it happened, mainly because Margaret Thatcher's son was involved.
It is the story of a failed military coup in Equitorial Guinea (a tiny African nation I knew NOTHING about) by a group of mercenaries. The idea was throw over the dictator (who was a greedy cruel man - but they were not in it for humanitarian reasons) and take control of the oil.
The attempt failed mostly because too many people were talking too much all over the place.
It is the story of a failed military coup in Equitorial Guinea (a tiny African nation I knew NOTHING about) by a group of mercenaries. The idea was throw over the dictator (who was a greedy cruel man - but they were not in it for humanitarian reasons) and take control of the oil.
The attempt failed mostly because too many people were talking too much all over the place.
September 15, 2013
A book that shines a light on the supposed attempt by the British Government(allegedly including both Mark Thatcher and Jeffrey Archer) to replace the government of Equatorial Guinea with one of its own choosing.
It left me feeling stunned by the arrogance of the people (allegedly) involved and their apparent belief that they could actually pull it off.
Recommended reading for anyone with the misguided belief that international affairs is cleaning up its act.
Adam Roberts
It left me feeling stunned by the arrogance of the people (allegedly) involved and their apparent belief that they could actually pull it off.
Recommended reading for anyone with the misguided belief that international affairs is cleaning up its act.
Adam Roberts
September 9, 2007
a very interesting story, but so badly written. this reads like a first draft sorely in need of editing. i read about half, and since the author tells you clearly what is going to happen, the rest reads like a laundry list of the equipment they used and what they did with it. it did pique my interest in reading frederick forsyth though.
February 21, 2008
Aside from the somewhat disjointed nature of the telling, it is always interesting for me to learn about other countries, and to do it in a multi-textural way.
One thing, Equatorial Guinea is a very scary place!!
The enabled abuse of power and the torture of the people introduced in the book gives just a quick wink at the levels of barbarity so many people world-wide experience.
One thing, Equatorial Guinea is a very scary place!!
The enabled abuse of power and the torture of the people introduced in the book gives just a quick wink at the levels of barbarity so many people world-wide experience.
July 23, 2010
Pretty good, although for some reason, and not just this author specifically, journalists always feel the need to recap who everyone is and what their role is every time they get mentioned in a new chapter. I'm not sure if the book is based off several independent reports he filed or what, but it seems a little hand holdy and condescending, not too mention pads the book out.
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