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    The Wonga Coup: A Tale of Guns, Germs and the Steely Determination to Create Mayhem in an Oil-Rich Corner of Africa
    The Wonga Coup: A Tale of Guns, Germs and the Steely Determination to Create Mayhem in an Oil-Rich Corner of Africa
    The Wonga Coup: A Tale of Guns, Germs and the Steely Determination to Create Mayhem in an Oil-Rich Corner of Africa
    Audiobook8 hours

    The Wonga Coup: A Tale of Guns, Germs and the Steely Determination to Create Mayhem in an Oil-Rich Corner of Africa

    Written by Adam Roberts

    Narrated by Simon Vance

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Equatorial Guinea is a tiny country roughly the size of the state of Maryland. Humid, jungle covered, and rife with unpleasant diseases, natives call it Devil Island. Its president in 2004, Obiang Nguema, had been accused of cannibalism, belief in witchcraft, mass murder, billion-dollar corruption, and general rule by terror. With so little to recommend it, why in March 2004 was Equatorial Guinea the target of a group of salty British, South African and Zimbabwean mercenaries, traveling on an American-registered ex-National Guard plane specially adapted for military purposes, that was originally flown to Africa by American pilots? The real motive lay deep below the ocean floor: oil.

    In The Dogs of War, Frederick Forsyth effectively described an attempt by mercenaries to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea - in 1972. And the chain of events surrounding the night of March 7, 2004, is a rare case of life imitating art-or, at least, life imitating a 1970s thriller-in almost uncanny detail. With a cast of characters worthy of a remake of Wild Geese and a plot as mazy as it was unlikely, The Wonga Coup is a tale of venality, overarching vanity and greed whose example speaks to the problems of the entire African continent.
    .
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateSep 15, 2006
    ISBN9781400172900
    The Wonga Coup: A Tale of Guns, Germs and the Steely Determination to Create Mayhem in an Oil-Rich Corner of Africa
    Author

    Adam Roberts

    Adam Roberts is Professor of Nineteenth Century Literature at Royal Holloway, University of London. He writes extensively about literature and science fiction. He is also a prolific science-fiction writer with twenty-two novels published together with a number of literary parodies.

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    • 4/5
      As can probably be seen from my books, I am obsessed with Africa. This book was one that had been on my list for a long time and I was not disappointed. While the writing was not great and there probably could have been some better editing, the overall effect was comprehensive. The perspective of those of us outside of Africa is often scarred by the violence we see so often reported. This book in many ways reenforces the idea that this kind of stuff only happens in Africa. However, this is not the fault of the author but rather the ridiculous mindsets of the mercenaries. These individuals are microcosms of way that Africa is viewed as a blank slate for the Global North to write the narratives they wish to. The arrogance is mind boggling.