Merc
American Soldiers of Fortune
Published on 24. April 2018
Book
Paperback/Softback
224 pages
978-1-61200-591-1 (ISBN)
Description
Merc is a classic; first published in 1979, its characters and stories are as vivid and worthy of retelling today. American soldiers of fortune have seen action on nearly every battlefield in history - from the Revolutionary War to modern times, men like John Early, a member of the famed Selous Scouts who hunted terrorists in Rhodesia. They fight because they enjoy combat, for causes in which they passionately believe, for money, or simply for adventure.
The mercs profiled in this book range from West Point graduates and Harvard poets to former CIA agents and ex-cons. They are men like William Morgan, a guerrilla leader in the Cuban uprising against Fulgencio Batista, later imprisoned and executed by Fidel Castro; David Marcus, raised in New York's Hell's Kitchen, who went on to a brilliant career in law and reform politics and died in 1947 fighting for the survival of a tiny new nation called Israel; William Brooks, Vietnam Special Forces veteran who, down and out in a cheap Paris hotel, joined the French Foreign Legion and ended up in a remote African outpost where he lived on Coke, salt tablets and paregoric while fighting Somali insurgents; and George Bacon, an ex-CIA operative in Laos with mysterious connections, who died fighting Cubans in Angola.
Because their private histories parallel the larger history of unconventional warfare and political upheaval, Merc: American Soldiers of Fortune provides insight into global conflicts, but most of all it is a fast-paced, eye-opening account of a little-known but fascinating way of life.
The mercs profiled in this book range from West Point graduates and Harvard poets to former CIA agents and ex-cons. They are men like William Morgan, a guerrilla leader in the Cuban uprising against Fulgencio Batista, later imprisoned and executed by Fidel Castro; David Marcus, raised in New York's Hell's Kitchen, who went on to a brilliant career in law and reform politics and died in 1947 fighting for the survival of a tiny new nation called Israel; William Brooks, Vietnam Special Forces veteran who, down and out in a cheap Paris hotel, joined the French Foreign Legion and ended up in a remote African outpost where he lived on Coke, salt tablets and paregoric while fighting Somali insurgents; and George Bacon, an ex-CIA operative in Laos with mysterious connections, who died fighting Cubans in Angola.
Because their private histories parallel the larger history of unconventional warfare and political upheaval, Merc: American Soldiers of Fortune provides insight into global conflicts, but most of all it is a fast-paced, eye-opening account of a little-known but fascinating way of life.
Reviews / Votes
An engaging book. * Miniature Wargames - Chris Jarvis *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
40 b/w photos & 15 colour photos
Dimensions
Height: 228 mm
Width: 152 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-61200-591-1 (9781612005911)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
01/2020
Casemate
€18.18
Available for download
Persons
Jay Mallin was a journalist and long-time correspondent for Time magazine. He was an expert on Cuban affairs, and covered the revolution led by Fidel Castro in the late Fifties and later reported from Nicaragua, Grenada and Angola. In the 1980's he became a Latin American correspondent for The Washington Times. A recognized authority on terrorism, he wrote numerous books. Robert K. Brown, former Green Beret, is the founder of Soldier of Fortune Magazine. After being wounded in Vietnam, he went on to fight with the Rhodesians; the Afghans during the Afghan-Russo war; the rebels in Laos; the army of El Salvador; and the armed forces of struggling Croatia among others.