London Transport Buses in East London and Essex

London Transport Buses in East London and Essex

Lotus Esprit

Lotus Esprit

Lost Lions of Judah

Haile Selassie's Mongrel Foreign Legion 1935-41

Publication Date15th June 2017

Book FormatHardback

pages288

Illustrations44

Height234

Width156

The strange, untold story of the Nazis and adventurers who fought for Ethiopia against Mussolini’s invaders.
Regular Price £20.00 Online Price: £16.00
Availability: Out of stock
ISBN
9781445659831

In October 1935 Fascist Italy invaded independent Ethiopia. The Italians had planes, high explosive, and mustard gas. The Ethiopians had swords and spears. Emperor Haile Selassie needed expert outside help. What he got was a crazy gang of mercenaries who could barely shoot straight and were further to the right than Mussolini. There were Americans posing as fake French counts, Fascist Belgian guns for hire, an African-American pilot duo known as the Black Eagle and the Brown Condor (they hated each other), a Cuban veteran of three failed far-right coups, an Austrian Nazi doctor, Swedish soldiers who preferred fighting communism, and an alcoholic English dropout.


Haile Selassie’s international state support was equally disreputable. Hitler backed Selassie as part of a plot to grab back the Rhineland and Japanese secret societies pushed a penniless Tokyo princess into marriage with an Ethiopian prince. Together, this bizarre foreign legion tried to save Ethiopia from Fascism. This is the first time the story of Haile Selassie’s motley combatants has been told, researched from primary records, some in French, Swedish, Spanish and Czech. In his own fast-paced style, Christopher Othen demonstrates how the invasion of Ethiopia almost turned into a worldwide race war.

Write Your Own Review
Only registered users can write reviews. Please Sign in or create an account