A mercenary journalist

Worth a read is not your ordinary book review; it is a meta-review providing an overview of the opinions contained in a variety of book reviews published in the media at large. This week, we take a look at My Friend the Mercenary by James Brabazon, released in South Africa in July this year.

What is it all about?

Traditionally, the word “mercenary” refers to a person who is prepared to fight in a foreign country for financial gain. Few of us would imagine that a journalist could be considered a mercenary, and yet James Brabazon regards himself as just that in his book, My Friend the Mercenary.

As an ambitious but relatively unknown journalist, Brabazon hears of a little-documented war in a small West African country. With the lure of covering the rumoured bloodshed and torture occurring there, Brabazon hires middle-aged South African mercenary Nick du Toit to act as his bodyguard, and together the two set off to Sierra Leone.

The result of the three months they spent there was twofold: Brabazon and the civil war in Sierra Leone made international headlines, and he and Du Toit became close friends. It is for this reason that, when Du Toit was planning what he called his "African Adventure" – known to us as the attempted coup in Equatorial Guinea – he offered Brabazon an opportunity to get in on the deal by filming the events.

It was only chance that kept Brabazon from participating, and it was only when he saw his friend on television in March 2004 that he fully realised what Du Toit had had in mind.

My Friend the Mercenary is Brabazon’s memoir of the time he spent with Du Toit in Sierra Leone, documenting and filming one of the most barbaric civil wars in recent history; and of the strange friendship that developed between a war-hungry mercenary and a story-hungry journalist.

Who is the author?

James Brabazon is a British frontline journalist and documentary filmmaker. He has investigated, photographed and filmed hostile environments in over 60 countries, and has won a number of international journalism and film awards.

He lecturers on the ethics and practicalities of journalism in war zones, and has written for a number of British newspapers.

What do others say?

My Friend the Mercenary was well received in international review circles, partly because of Brabazon’s reputation as a brave journalist prepared to venture into the most dangerous of war zones.

His description of the events in Sierra Leone is said to be wide-eyed and honest, and his awareness of his own mercenary status adds depth and insight into the narrow path of ethical journalism in African war zones.

At the very least, reading this book will remind you that you are fortunate to have a job in which meeting mercenaries at your local bar is not part of everyday life.

The Scotsman: "In that Liberian abyss, Brabazon was compelled to wonder: exactly who is the bad guy here? The blood-drenched 'freedom fighter' [from Sierra Leone] or the more restrained mercenary [Nick du Toit]? Just who is the 'mercenary' – the profiteering journalist or his amiable bodyguard? The result in My Friend the Mercenary is a fascinating argument with himself – as well as with other people, not least the modern South Africans who tried to explain to Brabazon exactly what Du Toit and his comrades got up to in the bad old days."

Spectator: "As he freely admits, Brabazon knows he has crossed the line in becoming chummy with a mercenary. In many ways, the drama and interest of this book comes from that dynamic – between what the tyro journalist knows he should do and what he actually does."

How do I get hold of it?

My Friend the Mercenary is published in South Africa by Penguin Books. It is available at Exclusive Books at a price of approximately R220.00.