In a fly-blown bar in West Africa, British war reporter James Brabazon found himself being briefed by South Africa's most notorious mercenary, Nick du Toit, on covert military plans to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea-a tiny country fabulously rich in oil.

The botched coup and its tragic consequences left a host of guns-for-hire victims of their own avaricious schemes and ruthless double-crosses. Mark Thatcher, only son of the former British prime minister, was famously implicated in the plot.

My Friend the Mercenary is both an account of James's courageous journey into the Liberian civil war-where he reported from behind rebel lines with Nick du Toit as his bodyguard-and the inside story of the most infamous coup attempt in recent history.

'An outstanding memoir about the power of friendship in the morally complex theatre of war. James Brabazon is a fearless reporter and a brutally honest narrator. I couldn't put this book down.' Andy McNab