Soldiers of Fortune: Mercenaries and Military Adventurers, 1960 - 2020 (Elite)

While mercenaries have been used throughout history, the 1960s saw the rise of white freelance soldiers, employed by leaders of newly independent black African states. Later groups of mercenaries hired themselves out not only to train Third World armies, but even to spearhead anti-government coups. Many others also volunteered to fight in countries like Rhodesia and South Africa during the was of the 1970s-80s.

Over the past 30 years, former military professionals have accepted contracts from sophisticated military corporations employed by national governments, sometimes to share the burden of the 'War against Terror' following Western interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan. Meanwhile, individual volunteers hove fought—for motives other than pay—in the conflicts in former Yugoslavia and Syria.

This book, by a former security contractor with wide-raging contacts, explains the steady evolution of freelance soldiering over the past 60 years. Illustrated with rare personal photographs and detailed colour plates of uniforms, equipment and weapons, it vividly brings the world of the military adventurer to life.