The Dogs of War

Great pacing, Forsyth is a master at drawing out and sustaining suspense and if you are interested in the nuts and bolts of manufacturing a coup d'etat,circa 1960, the book is an indispensable guide to the backstreets of the clandestine arms industry.

I have loved this book for 40 years and have read it almost annually.

Forsyth’s detailed descriptions of all aspects of the book make you think you are on the streets of London, in the meetings and the restaurants. While much of the action takes place abroad, its beating heart is London. When I lived there, I visited many of the places described.

I read this classic as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Army when I was training at Jungle Warfare School in Panama. I was already a huge fan of the 1980 movie adaptation, starring a young Christopher Walken. The book is billed as ‘fiction’, but accurately describes an attempt by mercenaries to overthrow the government of oil-rich Equatorial Guinea in 1972. Forsyth was a BBC reporter in Africa and witnessed wars often fought with mercenaries. He also advised the movie Wild Geese, based on true events led by the mercenary "Mad Mike" Hoare. When Mad Mike died in 2020, I… show more.