I‘m an English writer currently based in Eastern Europe. My day jobs have included journalist, legal representative for asylum seekers, and English language teacher. In off-the-clock adventures I’ve interviewed retired mercenaries about African adventures, discussed lost causes with political extremists, and got drunk with an ex-mujahidin who knew Osama Bin Laden.
My first book, ‘Franco’s International Brigades: Adventurers, Fascists, and Christian Crusaders in the Spanish Civil War’, has been published in four editions, including an English ebook and a Spanish hardback with Destino of Barcelona. My second book ‘Katanga: Mercenaries, Spies, and Witchdoctors at War with the United Nations in 1960s Africa’ was published by The History Press in the autumn of 2015. The third book, ‘Lost Lions of Judah: Haile Selassie’s Mongrel Foreign Legion’, about foreign involvement in Ethiopia’s battle against Fascism, was published by Amberley on 15 June 2017.
This blog is a home for the cultural and military weirdness I’ve come across while researching my books.
Email me: brightreview [at] aol [dot] com .
My name is pronounced “O-Thun”, if you were wondering.
