Last of the Pirates
Search for Bob Denard
Samantha Weinberg(Author)
Jonathan Cape (Publisher)
Published on 3. February 1994
Book
Hardback
272 pages
978-0-224-03307-7 (ISBN)
Description
The Comoros are small specks in the Idian Ocean, four volcanic islands known for their beauty and for Ylang-Ylang, an exotic flower whose extract is widely used in French perfumes. For many years they were also the home of Bob Denard, a French mercenary who arrived by way of Katanga, the Congo, the Yemen, Angola, Biafra, Gabon and Benin. Once in the Comoros he overthrew two presidents in three years. In 1989 he too was overthrown and disappeared. In this dramatic book Samantha Weinberg goes in search of Bob Denard. She investigates his past and his role in the assassination of Abdallah, the last president of the Comoros, and in doing so learns about the history of the islands and the effect of mercenary rule on them. This is a quest which takes her across the Comoros and from the Seychelles to South Africa and Paris. It is also a thrilling story of cruelty, beauty, intrigue and murder. (Denard returned from exile in South Africa to France to face charges in connection with a failed coup in Benin. On 5 April 1993 he received a five-year suspended sentence. He now lives in Paris).
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Vintage Publishing
Illustrations
Ill.
Dimensions
Height: 225 mm
Width: 143 mm
Weight
486 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-224-03307-7 (9780224033077)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Samantha Weinberg was born in 1966 and studied Economics at Trinity College, Cambridge. She covered Namibian independence for the Daily Telegraph before spending two years working for the South African Weekly Mail in Johannesburg. She has contributed to the Spectator, Financial Times, Independent and the European and writes regularly on Africa for the Sunday Telegraph. This is her first book.