" Mad Mike " Signed limited edition Hardcover Book. Congo War and more.....

In 1964-1965 Colonel Mike Hoare led 300 ‘Wild Geese’ across the Congo to crush a communist rebellion, rescue 2000 nuns and priests from barbarity, beat Che Guevara … and become a legend.

Of Irish blood, Mike was schooled in England and, during World War 2, was the ‘best bloody soldier in the British Army’. He demobbed as major, qualified in London as a chartered accountant and emigrated to South Africa.

Going rogue, he started living dangerously to get more out of life, including trans-Africa motorbike trips, bluewater sailing, exploring remote areas, and leading safaris in the Kalahari Desert. Here Mike got to know the CIA agent who was to change his life … and Nelson Mandela’s. Later Mike was technical adviser to the film The Wild Geese, which starred Richard Burton playing the Mike Hoare character.

In 1981 Mike led 50 ‘Frothblowers’ in a bid to depose the socialist government of the Seychelles. Things went wrong and soon Mike was to spend three years in jail for hijacking a Boeing 707.

Here for the first time, in this story behind the story, Chris Hoare separates the man from the myth in a way only a son can, and concludes his ‘mad dad’ was an officer and a gentleman with a bit of pirate thrown in.

The book is 229 x 152 mm (9×6″) and has 89 photographs, half of which in colour, all printed on gloss art paper; the 320 pages include seven maps, family tree, glossary, index, bibliography, three appendices and 198 references. The book is available in softcover signed by the author. There are also a limited number of hardcover books, part of a numbered edition of 300 books all signed by Mike Hoare and Chris Hoare

 # 208 or 300

Signed Original

Note* My Late Dad. Ernest R Christie ( BBC ) traveled extensively with mike.