The New Mercenaries: The History of the Hired Soldier from the Congo to the Seychelles

by Anthony Mockler

Describes the involvement of mercenary troops in 20th century wars in Africa and other areas

Genres: History

374 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1987

Reviews

[Nat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tucked away in the middle of this book is a chapter that presents evidence that the long, detailed account of organizing an African coup in Frederick Forsyth's Dogs of War is an only lightly fictionalized account of an ACTUAL COUP PLANNED BY FREDERICK FORSYTH! The author says that when Forsyth was reporting on the Nigerian civil war for the BBC he became disgusted with the corrupt and oppressive dictatorship of Equatorial Guinea. Using money from his first two novels, he supported a bunch of mercenaries who planned to overthrow the government of E.G., but the plan failed when customs inspectors in Italy stopped the ship carrying all the 9mm ammo.

About the long final mercenary escapade described in this book (an attempted coup in the Seychelles), "Mad" Mike Hoare, a mercenary commander who fought in the Congo and who was the technical advisor for the best mercenary movie ever made--the Wild Geese--, said

"I should have taken Richard Burton and Roger Moore along with me and we'd have had a happy ending" (p.284).

I wonder: did Hoare watch the Wild Geese? It hardly has a happy ending.