Each book by F. Forsyth became not only a literary, but also a social event. This certainly applies to the novel Dogs of War, whose heroes are foreign mercenaries fighting on African soil. The amazing authenticity of the book was explained by the fact that it was based on the military impressions of the author himself, who meticulously recreated the atmosphere of real life, based on genuine facts and events, depicting living people. However, it turned out that there is also a “feedback.” In 1981, mercenaries tried to carry out a coup in the Seychelles and overthrow the legitimate government. They acted exactly according to the “recipes” of F. Forsythe’s book. The putsch was suppressed, but since then the expression “dogs of war” has become a common noun to refer to all mercenary military units...