The Wonga Coup
Adam Roberts
In 2004, there was a coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea; and it was not a normal coup led by the military or political figures, but it was actually led by mercenaries, foreign mercenaries. This was a big deal; it was a scandal, and it was a bigger scandal because Margaret Thatcher's son was actually involved in the coup.
So this book basically takes you through how they plotted this coup, the history of Equatorial Guinea, what led up to the mercenaries being able to pull off a coup like this. Very few people know a lot about what happens in West Africa. Equatorial Guinea is a really small country, but it's got more oil than almost any other place in Africa. So it's very rich, it's got crazy dictators, who've done awful things to the people, and you just never hear bout it.
The book was well researched. This guy had gone back after the story broke, and he spent about two or three years writing this book. It gives you a lot of in-depth information, not only about what happened but also what led up to that the history of Equatorial Guinea all the way back to colonial period and just the bizarre circumstances that made this possible.
I would recommend anyone who is interested in politics and current events or just the bizarre world that we live in to read this book. I would give this book 3½ out of five stars. The writing was good, the research was good, and there was some really interesting information, but the fact that it sort of didn't really go anywhere. Maybe just the fact that it was a kind of boring topic once you get past the brilliance of mercenaries taking over a country, but it was sort of a letdown in the end.
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