‘Witty,perceptive and with strong echoes of Evelyn Waugh’s ‘Black Mischief’, this bookengrosses the reader from the first page. With his characteristic English highirony and self-deprecation, the author almost succeeds in hiding the fact thathe was playing for incredibly high stakes in these African missions, where infact hundreds of thousands, even millions, of lives were at stake. Everypractitioner in that key penumbra between diplomacy and soldiering would dowell to read this well-written, penetrating and thought-provoking book.’ AndrewRoberts, historian & author: ‘Churchill: Walking with Destiny’‘Gutsy, trenchant and consistently entertaining,Ellery has a distinctive and uniquely British voice, not to mention thesharpest of pens. He thrives in chaos and conflict, revelling in places mostwould fear to tread.’ Justin Marozzi – journalist, historian & travelwriter
