{"title":"Al Venter","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"gunship-ace-book-al-j-venter-9781612000701","title":"Gunship Ace","description":"\"The days of Congo and Angola when you had the image of mercenaries as drunken guys going around shooting up the place... has gone – the people you find now... are well-trained, professional soldiers, special forces trained.\" – Neall EllisPraise for Al J. Venter:\"A disturbing insight into the ever growing world of unconventional private armies. Like it or not, Venter tells it to us the way it is.\" – John Le Carre“…a gripping and hugely informative read. …highly recommended. …impressive and enlightening.” – The HeraldA former South African Air Force pilot who saw action throughout the region from the 1970s, Neall Ellis is the best-known mercenary combat aviator alive. Apart from flying Alouette helicopter gunships in Angola, he has fought in the Balkan War (for Islamic forces), flown Mi-8s for Executive Outcomes, and thereafter an Mi-8 fondly dubbed “Bokkie” for Colonel Tim Spicer in Sierra Leone. For the past two years, as a “civilian contractor,” Ellis has been flying helicopter support missions in Afghanistan, where, he reckons, he has had more close shaves than in his entire previous four-decade career; twice he turned the enemy back from the gates of Freetown, effectively preventing the rebels from overrunning Sierra Leone’s capital. Known as Nellis to his friends, he was also the first mercenary to work hand-in-glove with British ground and air assets in a modern guerrilla war. This book describes the full career of this storied aerial warrior, from the bush and jungles of Africa to the forests of the Balkans and the merciless mountains of today’s Afghanistan. Along the way the reader encounters a multi-ethnic array of enemies ranging from ideological to cold-blooded to pure evil, as well as well as examples of incredible heroism for hire.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49744345923857,"sku":"GOR005724706","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":52981148811537,"sku":"CIN1612000703G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1612000703.jpg?v=1764845346"},{"product_id":"gunship-ace-book-al-j-venter-9781612009438","title":"Gunship Ace","description":"This book describes the full career of this storied aerial warrior, from the bush and jungles of Africa to the forests of the Balkans and the merciless mountains of todays Afghanistan.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49777420468497,"sku":"NGR9781612009438","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50499532390673,"sku":"GOR011426132","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":52330734321937,"sku":"CIN1612009433G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1612009433.jpg?v=1750862631"},{"product_id":"war-dog-book-al-j-venter-9781932033090","title":"War Dog","description":"•  Examines mercenary missions across the world • Written by a correspondent who saw action with the Executive     Outcomes `gun for hire’ group  War Dog deals with mercenary action in a score of wars: Angola, Sierra Leone, El Salvador, the Congo Republic, Ethiopia, Lebanon and others.  One of a handful of correspondents that saw action with the South African 'guns for hire' group Executive Outcomes, Al Venter's revelations about this organisation as well as what has recently been taking place in the Democratic Republic of Congo are remarkable. So are many of the 150 photos in this volume.  In this book you get up close and personal with hardened pro's on the ground, joining them for missions where quick thinking and a will of steel are the only things separating them from success or failure, life or death.  While the major world powers such as the USA and leading European nations grapple with more serious global issues, mercenaries might very well increasingly be the answer for dealing with some of the brush fire wars that continue to plague the developing world. In this book, the author sets out a plausible evidence for such a trend and one that is likely to become more commonplace in the future.  Al J. Venter has made a career of covering other peoples' conflicts. As a long serving Africa and Middle East correspondent for Jane's International Defense Review his reports over the past thirty years have spanned four continents. Twice wounded and now well into his sixties, he recently flew combat in Sierra Leone alongside Neall Ellis in an aging Russian Mi-24 gunship (that leaked when it rained) and he still tries to go on operations when the opportunity presents itself. Of late, he has been spending a lot of time in West Africa.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50037593112849,"sku":"CIN1932033092G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50784848970001,"sku":"GOR004167572","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50961336631569,"sku":"CIN1932033092VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53104983638289,"sku":"GOR004544516","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1932033092.jpg?v=1751422182"},{"product_id":"barrel-of-a-gun-book-al-venter-9781935149255","title":"Barrel of a Gun","description":"Anybody who says that the pen is mightier than the sword hasn't spent time in Somalia, or in Beirut during its bloody heyday. So begins this fascinating memoir of a journalist, filmmaker, and just plain raconteur who has made a career of examining warfare-on the ground as the bullets are flying. While the average citizen is aware of violent conflicts broiling all around the globe, Al J. Venter has felt the need to see them all in person, preferably at the centre of the action. Born in South Africa, Venter has found no shortage of horrific battles on his own continent, from Rhodesia to Biafra, and Angola to Somalia. He has ridden with the legendary mercenary group Executive Outcomes, flown with the Selous Scouts on their bounty hunts,' and traipsed the jungles with both guerrillas and national troops under whoever in the country then held power. During Sierra Leone's civil war he flew in the government's lone Mi-24 Hind gunship as it blasted apart rebel villages and convoys. In the Middle-east he went into southern Lebanon with the invading Israeli army, and at one point was held prisoner by Hezbollah. In his journeys, Venter associated with an array of similarly daring soldiers and journalists, from Mad MikeA\" Hoare to Danny Pearl, as well as elite soldiers from around the world, many of whom, he sadly relates, never emerged from the war zones they entered. Al Venter here offers the reader his own personal combat experiences, in all their multifaceted fascination.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50146484650257,"sku":"CIN1935149253G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50152433582353,"sku":"CIN1935149253VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50554833830161,"sku":"GOR007212432","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53269773910289,"sku":"GOR010034889","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53631055790353,"sku":"GOR014987725","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1935149253.jpg?v=1751315274"},{"product_id":"chopper-boys-book-al-j-venter-9781853671777","title":"The Chopper Boys","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50188567019793,"sku":"GOR012364911","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51260104802577,"sku":"GOR002291209","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":52394386850065,"sku":"CIN1853671770G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":53649234821393,"sku":"CIN1853671770VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1853671770.jpg?v=1750996506"},{"product_id":"portugal-s-guerrilla-wars-in-africa-book-al-venter-9781909384576","title":"Portugal'S Guerrilla Wars in Africa","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51514156777745,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51514156810513,"sku":"GOR008655799","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1909384577.jpg?v=1751632590"},{"product_id":"cops-cheating-death-book-al-venter-9781599211077","title":"Cops: Cheating Death","description":"Here are thirty-four adrenaline-infused stories of police putting their lives on the line in pursuit of justice. 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