The Dogs of War Hardcover – July 15, 1974

I am a big fan of the movie “The Dogs of War” with Christopher Walken, and every time the movie is shown on TV, I try to watch it. And when I was looking for new authors and titles to read, F. Forsyth and the Dogs of War “popped” up. I was sure that the book would not be like the movie, simply because there is no way of making a good movie while sticking to the book. And I was so right. Other than the overthrow of Zangaro, how it’s done, why, and by whom is quite different from the movie…miles apart. I think that Forsythe is a master of suspense and most of his books are masterful. I happen to believe that The Dogs of War is one of those. I recommend this book highly. Even if it’s dated from the 70s, the world and human nature has not changed that much.

Dogs of war is basically an interesting explanation of mercenary activity (at least at the time of its writing). Nobody should buy this hoping to get a riveting story, or have an emotional connection to any of the character. It is non-fiction theoretical work with "characters" and "motivations" to make it a novel. I gave it 4 stars because that's exactly what i wanted to read, but I just wanted to make it clear to any potential customer what they're getting in to.

Arrived in a few days and the condition was very nice.

This is more the seller's issue rather than the book. I've had this novel for decades in various forms over the years. My issue in this case is not the book itself - the book, as a novel, is perhaps one of Forsyth's best. Even the movie with Christopher Walken was pretty good as a "mercenary" movie, although it did not come close to the book in captivating it's audience, in my opinion. The story line is great - while many people seem to be down on the long stretch wherein Forsyth's characters delve deep into the financial aspects of accomplishing various things - I actually enjoyed that section as much as the rest of the story - it showed to what great extent people will go to get what they want when "getting around" the laws of various countries needs to be done in order to accomplish such things. The book I purchased, however, was a book club edition - the seller "conveniently" forgot to mention that when talking about it. Oh well...

First read this novel as the Reader's Digest condensed version back when I was a kid. The full novel, obviously, has much more to recommend it. Forsyth does his typical thorough job of walking the reader through the intricacies of the plot. I feel, after finishing this, that I am reasonably well-equipped to mount a coup in the Third World. Forsyth does not skimp on action or characters, either. An all-around satisfying adventure.

I read this excellent suspence story many years ago and enjoyed reading it again. It was obvious when I first read the story that Frederick Forsyth was the emerging great author that he has become. I would give it a 5 star rating but am saving this for another of his masterpieces.

Forsyth said after he wrote it that this story is close to 90% fact and the rest fiction. Many people have tried to pinpoint which African country he was writing about, but the sad fact is that there are too many that would qualify. Put that aside and enjoy superb writing and story telling by one of the all time masters of the genre.

A band of mercenaries plan in exquisite detail to overrun a tiny African republic and execute the plan with shocking precision. A thoroughly ripping yarn.

This was Fredrick Forsyth's first major novel (1974) and I have only just (2023) got around to reading it although I have read many of his others. Having read it I realise what a great book it is and I regret missing out on it for almost 50 years! The research that went into this is very impressive - even more so as it had to be done the hard way (no Googling then) and creates a "real" atmosphere throughout. I read this on my kindle and only put it down to sleep - it's that enthralling. Written when it is refreshingly free of unnecessary foul language. Highly recommended (and don't wait nearly 50 years!!)

Very well written, the book deals almost exclusively with the preparation of the coup d'état, the raid itself occupying only a few pages; therefore it was difficult to adapt it for the screen (it reminded me of "The Dirty Dozen").

I have read this book about 10 times. Admittedly a little outdated, it is a great fiction novel which feels like it is non-fiction. Forsyth is very descriptive and entwines a complicated plot, but lays it out simply enough to understand the complexity.

Decades after having first read this classic by the master story teller Frederick Forsyth I purchased a Kindle edition of the book and read it all over again due to sheer nostalgia. And while I did recollect the broad contours of the story and the ending I must confess that a lot of details had faded from memory.It was sheer pleasure reading this timeless classic once again. It goes to the eternal credit of Frederick Forsyth that he has been able to create a masterpiece that gives the same reading pleasure despite the passage of decades since it was first published. It is one of those books that one must read at least once in his/her lifetime.

Was a well written tale