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Title: The Wonga Coup: Guns, Thugs, and a Ruthless Determination to Create Mayhem in an Oil-Rich Corner of Africa
ISBN: 1586485008
Author:
Adam Roberts
Publicate Date: 2007-08-27
Publish: 2007-08-27
List Price: $14.95
Average Customer Rating: 3.5
Format: Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $8.91
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $1.95
Amazon Merchant Price: $10.17
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1: As of May 2008, this Saga STILL continues.....
I will not recite the many details already cited by the publishers and reviewers. What should give this book its second life (its first was not bad) is this ongoing saga STILL unfolding... Simon Mann recently turned over to EG authorities and promptly set to the dreaded Black Beach Prison (How many times has he said SORRY? And given his present plight, he will say that many more times)... new information in April-May 2008 on the "real" coup plotters. EG not shy to part with its oil money to extradite (Sir) Mark Thatcher through efforts with the Interpol on new information received. I've been to EG last June - just let me say it's a very interesting place. Read the book, follow the story still unfolding. The whole thing is quite an adventure... and as REAL as it gets!
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2: Enjoyable read, hampered by poor editing
Although generally quite enjoyable, the book has distracting repetitions and irrelevancies. We'll often get the same, not-particularly-important quote twice. The tail number of a plane is mentioned at least 3 times, as if its identity would somehow be thrown in doubt or it would be modified but... nope. It reads as if the final editing pass was skipped in order to get the thing into print.
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3: Good effort by Adam Roberts to synthesize a wide-ranging tale
"The Wonga Coup" is a fascinating piece of investigative journalism from Economist journalist Adam Roberts. Roberts has to synthesize a tale that includes events unfolding in Equatorial Guinea, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Angola, Congo, Canary Islands, Mali, Spain and the UK.
Roberts gets firsthand contributions from most of the failed coup's frontline participants, the notable exceptions being Simon Mann (still jailed in Zimbabwe) and Nick du Toit (still jailed in EG). Mark Thatcher comes across as a ill-tempered blunderer. Roberts interviews him and Thatcher - true to form - addresses him with some none-too-subtle physical threats (Roberts notes that he's unable to tell whether they're meant to be jokes).
I like the tone of Roberts's effort - he expresses a degree of admiration at the gumption and bucaneering spirit of the plotters, while at their same time laying bare their brazen openness (essentially talking openly to just about everyone, sealing their own fate) and, in the case of Mann, venality. He shows us contractual documents drawn up by Mann re. his post-coup financial reward that serve to deny any attempt by the plotters to justify their proposed actions on the basis of their inherent rightness or goodness.
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4: Good story, Written Boringly.
It really is quite an interesting story. I just personally feel that it is a little slow and overly detail oriented - semi repetitive, slightly lacking. Once again, this is a great story, but I think that you would be able to find all the information you would find in this book on wikipedia. There aren't enough quirky facts given to make someone interested in this subject want to read this book. Download it offline, research the names on wikipedia. The End. Thank you and Good Evening!
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5: Great read
Fascinating, humorous, and ultimately human and touching look into a world few of us ever see.
Ok, just up front, let's mention in bold type: being in prison in Africa really, really sucks. I think this book makes that abundantly clear.
Second: having a lot of excess time and money on your hands, and then being British or South African to top it off, and living in Africa also tends to create "mischief", apparently (especially if you have military experience and know other guys with military experience and time on their hands, plus wives who don't mind them going on some "reality adventuring" every 5 years).
I have been reading a few books about Africa recently (by the way, the "Zanzibar Chest" is totally amazing). Wong Coup is very good and I read it fast (2-3 days). It tells the story in an amusing and human way of mercenaries who tried to overthrow a small African country. On the one hand, a "fun" read, on the other hand, very harrowing. And yes, it does give us a picture into the human being, because it shows how people react under pressure (for instance, Simon Mann writing "we" from prison, not just about himself, but at least having some notion of being responsible for others, not just himself).
While the author does mock the men who tried the coup, at the same time, he does have a bit of sympathy I think for them. For instance, the statement by one of the South African mercenaries as to "would you try it again", was "Yes. Life is for living" sticks with me. Life is not for holding one's cards to one's chest, but for living out life. Let's face it, most of us sit at boring desk jobs until we retire, with no real risks involved, and no real great rewards either. These guys rolled the dice big-time and lost. I go home now to a Heineken and some reading, or a bar or movie. They spend their time in a hell-hole prison cell in Africa, made for one man, but that now houses 4, shackled and beaten and with food that would make us sick. Their life is terrible. They risked it and lost. At the same time, you do kind of have to admire their courage and sheer moxy for trying this. I am not saying it was ethical or morally desireable. The fact that the men did not keep the coup details private, and tried to just fly the guns in, is pretty much a joke, and the author portrays it as such. The coup itself was a joke, and the read is entertaining. These were men trying to live in the 21st century as if it were the time of Cecil Rhodes, in 1880s Africa. We can laugh at them, but let's face it, few if any of us will role the dice the way they do. I found it interesting to learn that there really are men like this out there. I was very interested in how the "world" works in Africa, of private armies, and dictators exchanging prisoners, mercenaries in their "mercenary frat house" (!), the wives, the media, etc, etc. It was fascinting because I knew so little about this world.
By the way, if you want to see one of the main characters (plotters) in the movie - Simon Mann (ex-SAS and British officer), rent or buy the Paul Greengrass DVD "Bloody Sunday". Mann plays Colonel Wilford. You can get a good idea of what Mann is like. (Mann has since lost weight, so he is heavier in the film than he is now. That "African Prison Diet" took the pounds off).
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