Peter Mortimer

A very easy to read account of a shocking debacle in Angola in 1976. The mercenaries who were recruited to fight for the FNLA were of dubious quality and few had any real military training. The guy who became their leader "Colonel Callan" was an ex para from England who had been dishonourably discharged and turned out to be a psychopath. The story is gripping and gives an insight into how the mercenaries were recruited and what happened when they were in Angola. It is shocking and brutal with accounts of casual murder of Angolan civilians by Callan and others. It has that "Lord of The Flies" feel to it as Callan and like minded amoral types found that they had no restrictions on their activities and they had the power of life and death not only over the Angolans but also the other mercenaries.