History Literature / TheDogsOfWar

* AdaptationDistillation: The movie removes much of the central theme of the connection between big business and war, as well as the entire Nigerian Civil War subplot (leaving a PlotHole of where Shannon's force of African soldiers comes from, and what Shannon's motives are for betraying his employer.)
* AdaptationalNationality: Shannon is changed from an Anglo-Irishman to an American. Likewise, his multi-national mercenary team of the novel is changed to Brits, Americans, and one Frenchman.

* AmericaSavesTheDay: Shannon has been changed from Anglo-Irish to American, though given the movie takes place in the 1980's this is justified. When the novel was written, most mercenaries were from Europe or Southern Africa, whereas the end of the Vietnam War saw an increase in American mercenaries.

* ObnoxiousInLaws: Minor version, but Shannon's father-in-law completely detests his guts and when he confronts Shannon's ex-wife about him wanting to meet her again and give her a trip to Florida, she says the line below. Their following discussion also implies that he forced her to divorce [[ManipulativeBastard by playing the]] [[EvilCripple "needful, crippled old man" card]].

This novel is a famous example of ShownTheirWork, as Forsyth spent time covering the Nigerian Civil War, and drew heavily from his experiences there. Several people have even tried to carry out coups in real life based on the methods presented within. And Forsyth himself is actually rumored to have tried overthrowing the government of Equatorial Guinea using the very methods he later put into the novel, although it's not clear whether he would have actually succeeded.

This novel is a famous example of ShownTheirWork; Forsyth spent time covering the Nigerian Civil War, and drew heavily from his experiences there. Several people have even tried to carry out coups in real life based on the methods presented within. And Forsyth himself is actually rumored to have tried overthrowing the government of Equatorial Guinea using the very methods he later put into the novel, although it's not clear whether he would have actually succeeded.

This novel is a famous example of ShownTheirWork; Forsyth spent time covering the Nigerian Civil War, and drew heavily from his experiences there. Several people have even tried to carry out coups in real life based on the methods presented within. And Forsyth himself actually pretended to be overthrowing the government of Equatorial Guinea based on the very methods he later put into the book, although it is not quite clear whether he would have actually succeeded.

Made into a 1980 film directed by John Irvin, starring Creator/ChristopherWalken and Creator/TomBerenger.

[[quoteright:305:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_dogs_of_war_1980_movie_poster.jpg]]

''The Dogs of War'' is a 1974 thriller novel by Creator/FrederickForsyth. It follows Sir James Manson, who discovers a large amount of valuable platinum in Zangaro, a PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny, and endeavors to obtain it via a discreet coup d'état. For this end, he employs Cat Shannon, a mercenary, who is given a hundred days to put a team together and make the strike. The rest of the novel follows Shannon as he gathers his old friends and prepares for it.

This novel is a famous example of ShownTheirWork; Forsyth spent time covering the Nigerian Civil War, and drew heavily from his experiences there. Several people have even tried to carry out coups in real life based on the methods presented within. Forsyth himself actually pretended to be overthrowing the government of Equatorial Guinea based on the very methods he later put into the book, although it is not quite clear whether he would have actually succeeded.

''The Dogs of War'' is a 1974 thriller novel by Creator/FrederickForsyth. It follows Sir James Manson, who discovers a large amount of valuable platinum in Zangaro, a PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny, and endeavors to obtain it via a discreet coup d'état. For this end, he employs Cat Shannon, a mercenary, who is given a hundred days to gather his team and make the strike. The rest of the novel follows Shannon as he gathers his old friends and prepares for it.

''The Dogs of War'' is a 1974 novel by Creator/FrederickForsyth. It follows Sir James Manson, who discovers a large amount of valuable platinum in Zangaro, a PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny, and endeavors to obtain it via a discreet coup d'état. For this end, he employs Cat Shannon, a mercenary, who is given a hundred days to gather his team and make the strike. The rest of the book follows Shannon as he gathers his old friends and prepares for it.

This novel is a famous example of ShownTheirWork; Forsyth spent time covering the Nigerian Civil War, and drew heavily from his experiences there. Several people have even tried to carry out coups in real life based on the methods presented within. Forsyth actually pretended to be overthrowing the government of Equatorial Guinea based on the very methods he later put into the book, although it is not quite clear whether he would have actually succeeded.

[[quoteright:299:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dogs_of_war.png]]

This book is a famous example of ShownTheirWork; Forsyth spent time covering the Nigerian Civil War, and drew heavily from his experiences there. Several people have even tried to carry out coups in real life based on the methods presented within. Forsyth actually pretended to be overthrowing the government of Equatorial Guinea based on the very methods he later put into the book, although it is not quite clear whether he would have actually succeeded.

Made into a 1980 film directed by John Irvin and starring Creator/ChristopherWalken.

!!This book contains examples of:

* KillEmAll: [[spoiler: The only member of the group left alive at the end is Langarotti ...[[NeverFoundtheBody maybe]]. ]]

* KnifeNut: Langarotti, who is always sharpening his blade.

** There's a TakeThat to the Nigerian War with a mention that British business interests advocated support for the government side [[TemptingFate provided that the war could be brought to a swift end]]. Shannon having witnessed the subsequent disasterous civil war and famine first hand has a lot to do with his motives.

* WarForFunAndProfit: Most of the protagonists are mercenaries, and Sir Manson thinks it better to finance a coup than trying to negotiate with Kimba. To be fair, negotiating wasn't really an option given that Kimba was a Soviet puppet and therefore very unlikely to open up his country to a major Western corporation.

* ShoutOut: A musical version of the poem ''Epitaph on an Army of Mercenaries'' is sung over the movie's end credits.

* HollywoodTactics: Justified; Shannon has only a tiny force under his command, so if he attacked the capital 'by the book' the defenders would rally and fend them off. Instead he does a night attack striking directly at his target, relying on surprise and overwhelming firepower to break their morale.

** Shannon points out the Endean that they're [[OnlyInItForTheMoney both mercenaries]].

* NotSoDifferent:

* GrenadeLauncher / RevolversAreJustBetter: TheMovie had "XM-18's" (actually [[CoolGuns/RocketsMissilesAndGrenadeLaunchers Manville revolver launchers]]) used for the climatic attack.

* TakeAThirdOption: Zangaro is an impoverished nation controlled by an incompetent and AxCrazy dictator dependent on the Soviet Union. Sir James Manson intends to replace him with a corrupt thug in order to turn the country into a BananaRepublic under the thumb of his corporation. [[spoiler:Shannon and his mercenaries carry out the coup, but instead of installing Manson's puppet, they create a provisional government run by a more honorable general that Shannon has worked with in the past, with Zangaro's overlooked (but numerous and industrious) immigrant labor force as its support base, who happen to be from the country as the general.]]

* DeadlyDistantFinale

* TakeAThirdOption: Zangaro is an impoverished nation controlled by an incompetent and AxCrazy dictator dependent on the Soviet Union. Sir James Manson intends to replace him with a corrupt thug in order to turn the country into a BananaRepublic under the thumb of his corporation. [[spoiler:Shannon and his mercenaries carry out the coup, but instead of installing Manson's puppet, they create a provisional government run by a more honorable general that Shannon has worked with in the past, with Zangaro's overlooked (but numerous and industrious) immigrant labor force as its support base]].

* NotSoDifferent: Shannon points out the Endean that they're [[OnlyInItForTheMoney both mercenaries]].

* AdaptationDistillation: The movie removes much of the central theme of the connection between big business and war, as well as the entire Nigerian Civil War subplot (leaving a PlotHole of where Shannon's force of African soldiers comes from).

---> '''Shannon's Wife''': ''I'' didn't divorced him! ''You'' did!