The Dogs of War
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The Dogs of War is a 1974 novel by Frederick Forsyth and a 1981 film, based on the novel, directed by John Irvin. It follows a company of European mercenary soldiers who are hired by a British industrialist to overthrow the government of a fictitious African nation of Zangaro.
The central characters, like the title character in Forsyth's earlier work The Day of the Jackal, are professional killers: ruthless, violent men who are "heroes" only in the loosest sense of the word. John "Cat" Shannon, the commander of the mercenary company, is the sole exception to this pattern. Both book and film follow, in detail, the preparations for the final attack: recruitment, training, reconnaissance, and the acquisition of weapons. Like most of Forsyth's work, The Dogs of War is more about craft than about character. The film, cast without major stars, takes a similar approach. Christopher Walken gives a flat, enigmatic performance as Shannon.
The Dogs of War draws on Forsyth's experiences as a journalist covering the Biafran War between Biafra and Nigeria. The dedication of the book--which names five individuals and "the others in the unmarked graves" and concludes with the line "at least we tried"--is clearly meant as an allusion to Forsyth's time in Biafra. The story's dark tone and cynical plot may stem from the same source.
The title is derived from a line in Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar: "Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war!"
The Dogs of War is also the name of a song by Pink Floydde:Die Hunde des Krieges