Simon Mann’s remarkable first-hand account of his life delivers like a thriller, taking listeners into the world of mercenaries and spooks, of murky international politics, big oil and big bucks, danger, love, and betrayal.

On March 7, 2004, former SAS soldier and mercenary Simon Mann prepared to take off from Harare International Airport. His destination was Equatorial Guinea; his intention was to remove one of the most brutal dictators in Africa in a privately organized coup d’état. The plot had the tacit approval of Western intelligence agencies, and Mann had already planned, overseen, and won two wars in Angola and Sierra Leone. So why did it go so wrong?

Here he reveals the full involvement of Mark Thatcher in the coup d’état, the endorsement of a former prime minister, and the financial involvement of two internationally famous members of the House of Lords. He also discusses how the British government approached him in the months preceding the Iraq War, and the pain of telling his wife, Amanda, that he believed he would never be freed.