The Wonga Coup Audiobook By Adam Roberts cover art

The Wonga Coup

Guns, Thugs, and the Steely Determination to Create Mayhem

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The Wonga Coup

By: Adam Roberts
Narrated by: Simon Vance
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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.

©2006 Adam Roberts (P)2006 Tantor Media, Inc. History & Theory Political Science Politics & Government World Africa Military Latin America War

Critic reviews

"An irresistibly lurid tale is peopled with bellicose profiteers, particularly of the neocolonialist sort from Europe and South Africa, with long histories of investment in oil, diamonds, and war-for-profit." (Publishers Weekly)
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This book is fascinating from the start - as much or more for simple fun than intellectual appreciation. The book is written in an elegant, engaging, and subtly funny style, and the reader is a pleasure.

The content of the book is very good. He convincingly portrays mercernaries, plotters, and the various things that go into a coup and how they can go wrong. He's very descriptive of the decision making, and gives good reasons why they made these decisions and how they got the results they did.

He doesn't spend any time critiquing the coup, and he is remarkably uneditorial about the whole thing. I felt that I could understand and sympathize with all the plotters. If you want more abstract details and overarching commentary, read Luttwak's coup de 'etat. This is well written as an engaging an immersing story of how some folks might get the notion that a coup is a bright idea.

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When I was young, I saw the movie Dog’s of War and liked it so much I read the book and liked it even more. I may be able to trace my lifelong interest in the politics and history of Africa to that experience. Equatorial Guinea may be a tiny remote little-known nation, but its history has been one of the saddest of any nation. Terrible leadership throughout its entire existence has made it a literal hellish place for the average member of the population. The discovery of oil offshore has not improved the lot of most of its citizens, but only left them worse off as the elites of the world and the small nation conspire to enrich themselves and none of the benefits trickle down. One brutal, venal family has run the country its entire existence and the next generation that will someday take over sounds little better than the insane first leader and the brutal, corrupt current leader. The Dogs of War and the Wonga Coup detail two attempts by mercenary groups to take over the country. The first book was a novel based on actual event the author plays a still uncertain role in (a topic much discussed in the Wonga Coup) and The Wonga Coup is non-fiction treatment of another attempted invasion 30 years after the Dogs of War events. Neither real life coup succeeded. That may be unfortunate in the first case as nothing could be worse than President Macias. The outcome of the Wonga Coup if it had worked is more debatable as the whole action was badly run from the beginning and was based on trying to gain control of the oil revenues and not to eliminate a mad leader who created the “Dachau of Africa.” Either way you end up with corrupt self-serving elites in control, but the Wonga group may have been less brutal. The book is a fascinating look into he Workings of mercenaries and how to not pull off a successful coup. The author lays out good overview of all the things the plotters had in their favor and how they messed up. The son of the British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher comes off especially badly. Secrecy is key to success of a coup and bringing in the spoiled attention seeking and entitled son of someone rich and powerful was a big mistake.
Simon Vance always does a nice job reading books and this is no exception,

The Dogs of War II

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While working in Iraq for a private security company I met more than a few South Africans. One, told me about the book. He was mentioned in the book. He was one of the lucky ones. This is truly an amazing book. I highly recommend it.

Wow what a doosey of a coup!

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Today, Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death by hanging. He was once our "friend." Then he defied us and we invaded. His eventual trial and sentence were inevitable. As long as Obiang plays ball with the US (and the oil companies), he'll be our friend. If he were to ever defy us, he'd better watch out.

This book was a great follow-up to the stories reported previously in the media. I wanted to know more about what really happened in such an innocuous country and how certain prominent characters became involved. This story starts out as a comedy and quickly turns into a tragedy. I was torn between the plotters getting what they deserved versus maybe, just maybe, those involved might get off with more lenient terms. I thought the reader was good, not overplaying the accents and keeping them understandable. If you are a news junkie who would like to know the back story that led to someone finally taking action and the aftermath, I highly recommend this book.

Dictators and dogs of war, beware

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A good primer about doing business in Africa that extends around the world as a lesson for younger readers who have not yet experienced the depths of professional duplicity.

A story of how covert plans unravel spectacularly

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