This is an excellent chronicle of the Italo-Ethiopian conflict and then of the battles in Africa during WWII between Italy and Britain. It is narrated very well and I rarely felt lost or confused. This is a great book and would be a welcome edition to any library.

This is probably one of the best war histories ever written. Mockler's superb book outlines the causes, actions and consequences of the Italo-Ethiopian conflict from Italy's first (foiled) attempt at conquest in 1896 at Adowa to Haile Selassie's final overthrow in the early 1970s by a military junta.
Mockler was exceedingly fortunate to have interviewed some of the people who appear in his book. Many were old men and several were later reported murdered by the Marxist Dengue that set up shop after throwing Selassie out.
Most of the story focuses on the 1936 war between the two countries when Fascist Italy conquered feudal Ethiopia, the last independent nation in Africa at the time. So often portrayed as barefoot and spear-carrying warriors, Mockler shows us that parts of the Ethiopian Army were fairly well-armed and trained. But it was still underdeveloped and relied heavily on massed attacks that guaranteed being massacred by the mechanized, well-equipped Italians. The book continues through the Italian occupation, the Ethiopian resistance, the declaration of war between Italy and Britain in World War Two, the Emperor's return and Ethiopia's eventual independence. It is rife with intrigue, plots and treachery, as Ethiopian nobles plotted with and against each other to see who would eventually wear the crown. It is an exquisitely crafted piece of work and it is a great great shame that it is no longer in print.

This book was great, although it didn't tell about the quest for the holy grail. The whole book is full of action.

This book charts the history of mercenary campaigns, from medieval europe to the congo and beyond. It has all the big names, Mad Mike Hoare , Denard , Schramme et al and it tells the story interestingly and precisely being an interesting read and well worth whatever cost it is at. It is the best mercenary book I have read in a long time

Anthony Meckler's "The New Mercenaries" covers the violent post-colonial period in Africa from about 1960 to 1981. Included are summaries of mercenary actions in Mozambique, Angola, the Congo, and elsewhere in that troubled continent. Names of noteworthy soldiers of fortune who appear in the book are "Mad Mike" Hoare, "Black Jack" Shramme, Bob Denard and others. Oddly, very little is mentioned about counter-terror campaigns in Rhodesia following the Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI). Perhaps this is because Rhodesia was a legitimate government, as opposed the the main thrust of Meckler's viewpoint - that the mercenaries in Africa were a law unto themselves, which was in some cases very true.

Although the work is scholarly (Meckler is after all an academician), and is the result of so-so research (by reading newspaper clippings, it often appears), the book reads like what it is - a boring compilation of stale facts and anecdotes, and is further compromised be being liberally sprinkled with the author's pointless remarks and opinions. Perhaps this was an attempt to liven up a real snoozer.

Although the book would be helpful to someone researching African politics, military history researchers won't find much of use in "The New Mercenaries".

This book offers the most complete description of mercenary action in the past century. Very detailed, very much fact, but reads like a novel. Read what Forsyth based his 'Dogs of War' on.
If it is out of print, try to order it somewhere else (thru Amazon) because this one is worth it!

This is the single most comprehensive book on mercenaries , period. Mockler combines the scholarship of an Oxford professor, which he is, with the flair of a journalist, which he is, to tell the story of modern mercenaries. He also goes into the definition, the history and the future of the subject. Mercenaries are becoming more common and more respectable today (please refer to them as private sector contract military trainers). You can see them on the evening news training the Bosnian army