Mercenary's Promise

Mercenary's Promise PDF

Author: Sharron McClellan

Publisher: Harlequin

Published: 2009-09-01

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 1426839413

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Wilderness guide Bethany Darrow was desperate to save her kidnapped sister in Colombia, but lying about having the money to pay dark, mysterious mercenary Xavier Monero would cost her dearly. Especially when their forced proximity during a dangerous jungle rescue unleashed a smoldering, irresistible attraction. Xavier knew the beautiful American was trouble the second he laid his eyes on her. Taking Bethany on the mission was a risk, and he wasn't prepared for the peril she placed on his heart. Suddenly he wanted more than fortune—he wanted Bethany, body and soul. But everything comes with a price….

Medieval Mercenaries

Medieval Mercenaries PDF

Author: William Urban

Publisher: Pen and Sword

Published: 2015-11-30

Total Pages: 286

ISBN-13: 1848328559

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

The Middle Ages were a turbulent and violent time, when the fate of nations was most often decided on the battlefield, and strength of arms was key to acquiring and maintaining power. Feudal oaths and local militias were more often than not incapable of providing the skilled and disciplined warriors necessary to keep the enemy at bay. It was the mercenary who stepped in to fill the ranks. A mercenary was a professional soldier who took employment with no concern for the morals or cause of the paymaster. But within these confines we discover a surprising array of men, from the lowest-born foot soldier to the wealthiest aristocrat the occasional clergyman, even. What united them all was a willingness, and often the desire, to fight for their supper.In this benchmark work, William Urban explores the vital importance of the mercenary to the medieval power-broker, from the Byzantine Varangian Guard to fifteenth-century soldiers of fortune in the Baltic. Through contemporary chronicles and the most up-to-date scholarship, he presents an in-depth portrait of the mercenary across the Middle Ages.

Mercenaries

Mercenaries PDF

Author: Guy Arnold

Publisher: Springer

Published: 1999-11-26

Total Pages: 212

ISBN-13: 1349277088

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Mercenaries have been employed as auxiliaries since early times, but in the post-1945 world they have operated, almost exclusively, in weak Third World countries. From Columbia to the Congo, Angola to Papua New Guinea, Cambodia to Nicaragua, they have appeared: training the drug cartel armies, assisting rebellions or civil wars, acting as the agents of the major powers. In the Congo crisis (1960-1965) they earned an especially unsavory reputation for greed, brutality and racism; it is a reputation that has stuck to the mercenary and on the whole justly. During the 1990s a new phenomenon has emerged in the form of the mercenary corporations such as Executive Outcomes or Sandline. These corporations offer a range of military expertise and weaponry, have the covert support of governments in the countries from which they come and are rapidly becoming a power to themselves, ultimately far more dangerous than the individual freebooters of the past.

Mercenaries in the Classical World

Mercenaries in the Classical World PDF

Author: Stephen English

Publisher: Casemate Publishers

Published: 2012-10-24

Total Pages: 470

ISBN-13: 1783034548

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Mercenaries were a significant factor in many of the wars of the Classical world, being employed in large numbers by many states. By far the most famous were Xenophon's 'Ten Thousand', who had to cut their way out of the Persian Empire after the death of their employer and such Greek infantry were for long the most dominant type (even a Spartan king hiring himself out in one case), but there was a wide variety of mercenaries available. Some, such as Celts and Thracians were hired largely for their love of fighting, while others were valued for their specialist skills, such as Cretan archers or slingers from Rhodes or the Balearic Islands. This will be the first full-length book on the subject since 1997. It will examine the role of the mercenaries and their influence on the wars of the period down to the death of Alexander the Great, who employed them and why, and will also look at the social and economic pressures that drove tens of thousands to make a living of fighting for the highest bidder, despite the intense dangers of the ancient battlefield.

Mercenaries, Hybrid Armies and National Security

Mercenaries, Hybrid Armies and National Security PDF

Author: Caroline Varin

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2014-09-15

Total Pages: 189

ISBN-13: 1317674782

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

This book assesses the use of ‘mercenaries’ by states, and their integration into the national armed forces as part of a new hybridisation trend of contemporary armies. Governments, especially in the West, are undertaking an unprecedented wave of demilitarisation and military budget cuts. Simultaneously, these same governments are increasingly opening their armies up to foreign nationals and outsourcing military operations to private companies. This book explores the impact of this hybridisation on the values, cohesion and effectiveness of the armed forces by comparing and contrasting the experiences of the French Foreign Legion, private military companies in Angola, and the merging of private contractors and American troops in Iraq. Examining the employment of foreign citizens and private security companies as military forces and tools of foreign policy, and their subsequent impact on the national armed forces, the book investigates whether the difficulties of coordinating soldiers of various nationalities and allegiances within public-private joint military operations undermines the legitimacy of the state. Furthermore, the author questions whether this trend for outsourcing security can realistically provide a long term and positive contribution to national security. This book will be of much interest to students of private military companies, strategic studies, international security and IR in general.

Museum Mercenary

Museum Mercenary PDF

Author: Rebecca Migdal

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2020-03-05

Total Pages: 387

ISBN-13: 1538118610

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Do you love museums? Do you believe in their wonder and power? Do you want to contribute to a wider museum community? Do you want to build a satisfying independent career? Museum Mercenary is for you. This book is for anyone who believes in museum work but struggles to find satisfaction in traditional museum jobs. It is for those who want to be challenged and inspired by a wider network of colleagues. It is for the creative, committed, and curious who want to live fulfilling lives while building meaningful careers. It is for those just hitting the job market, for those looking for a mid-career shift, or those wanting to contribute after retirement. It is for those who hope to balance making money with making a difference. Museum Mercenary shares how a dedicated museum worker can launch and sustain a successful and satisfying career as an independent museum professional. This book is a toolkit for anyone looking to build a career consulting for museums. It provides practical advice about establishing your business, building your network, and managing projects to ensure long-term success and satisfaction. This book will help you answer key questions, such as: How do you market your services and find clients? Which skills should you develop and how? How do you manage taxes and insurance? What professional standards should you follow? How do you plan for the future? And, most importantly, how do you do all of that while doing museum work that makes you proud? Museum Mercenary bridges the gap between guides for doing great museum work and guides for building a successful freelance career. It prepares you to become freelance professional engaged in transforming the museum field. Use the tips, tactics, and activities in this book to navigate freelancing and then get back to the business of meaningful museum work.

The Modern Mercenary

The Modern Mercenary PDF

Author: Sean McFate

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2017-05-10

Total Pages: 269

ISBN-13: 0190621087

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

In The Modern Mercenary, Sean McFate lays bare this opaque world, explaining the economic structure of the industry and showing in detail how firms operate on the ground. A former U.S. Army paratrooper and private military contractor, McFate provides an unparalleled perspective into the nuts and bolts of the industry, as well as a sobering prognosis for the future of war. While at present, the U.S. government and U.S. firms dominate the market, private military companies are emerging from other countries, and warlords and militias have restyled themselves as private security companies in places like Afghanistan and Somalia. To understand how the proliferation of private forces may influence international relations, McFate looks back to the European Middle Ages, when mercenaries were common and contract warfare the norm. He concludes that international relations in the twenty-first century may have more in common with the twelfth century than the twentieth. This "back to the future" situation, which he calls "neomedievalism," is not necessarily a negative condition, but it will produce a global system that contains rather than solves problems.

Mercenaries

Mercenaries PDF

Author: Sarah Percy

Publisher: OUP Oxford

Published: 2007-10-11

Total Pages: 278

ISBN-13: 0191607533

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

The main aim of this book is to argue that the use of private force by states has been restricted by a norm against mercenary use. The book traces the evolution of this norm, from mercenaries in medieval Europe through to private security companies in modern day Iraq, telling a story about how the mercenaries of yesterday have evolved into those of today in the process. The norm against mercenaries has two components. First, mercenaries are considered to be immoral because they use force outside legitimate, authoritative control. Second, mercenaries are considered to be morally problematic because they fight wars for selfish, financial reasons as opposed to fighting for some kind of larger conception of the common good. The book examines four puzzles about mercenary use, and argues that they can only be explained by understanding the norm against mercenaries. First, the book argues that moral disapproval of mercenaries led to the disappearance of independent mercenaries from medieval Europe. Second, the transition from armies composed of mercenaries to citizen armies in the nineteenth century can only be understood with attention to the norm against mercenaries. Third, it is impossible to understand why international law regarding mercenaries, created in the 1970s and 1980s, is so ineffective without understanding the norm. Finally, the disappearance of companies like Executive Outcomes and Sandline and the development of today's private security industry cannot be understood without the norm. This book is a project of the Oxford Leverhulme Programme on the Changing Character of War.

Mercenaries

Mercenaries PDF

Author: Col. Michael Lee Lanning

Publisher: Presidio Press

Published: 2007-12-18

Total Pages: 294

ISBN-13: 0307416046

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

SOLDIERS OF $$ Privateers, contract killers, corporate warriors. Contract soldiers go by many names, but they all have one thing in common: They fight for money and plunder rather than liberty, God, or country. Now acclaimed author and war vet Michael Lee Lanning traces the compelling history of these fighting machines–from the “Sea Peoples” who fought for the pharaohs’ greater glory to today’s soldiers for hire from private military companies (PMCs) in Iraq and Afghanistan. What emerges is a fascinating account of the men who fight other people’s wars–the Greeks who built an empire for Alexander the Great, the Nubians who accompanied Hannibal across the Alps, the Irish who became the first to go global in their search for work. Soldiers of fortune have always had the power to change the course of war, and Lanning examines their pivotal roles in individual battles and in the rise and fall of empires. As the employment of contract soldiers spreads in Iraq and America’s War on Terrorism–the U.S. paid $30 billion to PMCs in 2003 alone–Mercenaries offers a valuable inside look at a system that appears embedded in our nation’s future. Includes eight pages of photographs

Mercenaries in Africa

Mercenaries in Africa PDF

Author: United States. Congress. House. Committee on International Relations. Special Subcommittee on Investigations

Publisher:

Published: 1976

Total Pages: 80

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →