Fast-moving narrative by Anthony Mockler, the world’s leading authority on mercenary soldiers. Tells a story of mercenaries / dogs of war / hired guns - nowadays calling themselves “military contractors” - in the last thirty years.

Leading figures include “Mad Mike” Hoare; the recently deceased great French mercenary Bob Denard; Simon Mann / Mark Thatcher of the failed Equatorial Guinea coup; (also a chapter on Frederick Forsyth’s attempt at a previous coup in Equatorial Guinea, which led to his writing The Dogs of War.

Describes mercenary involvement in the civil wars in Yugoslavia, Angola and Chad, and brings readers up to date with present-day PMCs (“private military companies”) such as Blackwater and Aegis in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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