The New Mercenaries -The history of the mercenary from the Congo to the Seychelles - Anthony Mockle

"Human vermin," African leaders called them. When mercenaries suddenly reappeared on the twentieth century scene in Katanga in 1960, amazement, dismay, and uproar followed. Since that disconcerting revival of an apparent anachronism, the world came to accept mercenary soldiers. Indeed, some of their leaders became household names -- Rolf Steiner, Bob Denard, Black Jack Schramme, and "Mad Mike" Hoare, who luck finally ran out in the Seychelles. After beginning with a brief history of the mercenary soldier, Mockler continues with a series of lengthy, interconnected chapters which describe political upheavals in South Africa and which chronicle the part hired soldiers have played in these events.