Date: January 9th 2009

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Dear All,

Servants of War, Soft Skull’s disturbing new exposé of the prevalence and danger of private military corporations worldwide, was released in the original German edition to great acclaim.

The Frankfurter Rundschau called it “vivid...fully researched.”

Hessischer Rundfunk pronounced it “A wonderful, well written, well grounded, enthralling book that illuminates a dark spot of our democracy and poses the question of whether or not today’s wars are conducted only for profit.” (Please excuse our slippery grasp on German; here is the original text for your translation pleasure: “Ein ausgezeichnetes gut recherchiertes, fundiertes, spannend geshriebenes Taschenbuch, das einen Dunkelbereich der Demokratie aufhellt und kuenftige die Standardfrage stellen laesst: Ob kriege neuerdings nur noch aus Gewinninteresen heraus gefuehrt warden.”)

“This book is a must for anyone interested in the chasms of 21st century democracy,” stated Oliver Kroening from Radio Lotte in Weimar (“Das Buch ist ein klares Muss fuer Jeden, der sich fuer die Abgruende der real eistierenden Demokratie im 21. Jahrhundert interessiert”).

And Stefan Berkholz of Deutsche Welle wrote that “Rolf Uessler has published a small but important book that is sure to elicit friendly political discussion” (“Rolf Uessler hat ein wichtiges kleines Buch vorgelegt, das hoffentlich politsche Diskussionen ausloesen wird”).

When human blood is worth less than blood money, the cost can be incomprehensible. Rolf Uesseler exposes the depth of corruption and destruction that can occur when private military corporations become involved in national conflicts, hired either by private interests or governments, to settle wars, quash rebellions, infiltrate the illegal drug trade, or provide intelligence services. Servants of War: Private Military Corporations and the Profit of Conflict is a chilling reminder of what can happen when security and military operations are shielded from democratic processes and tied to profit, and the concern for justice and security is overshadowed by the desire for financial gain.

The book is out now, and we’d be pleased to send you a review copy. Let us know if you’d like to receive one.

More information below.

All the best in 2009,
Soft Skull Press

Private military firms operate on all continents with crises—commissioned by governments, intelligence agencies, private industries, warlords, drug cartels, and rebel groups. Operating in a legal twilight zone, the private nature of contracts shields them from the scrutiny of third parties.

Meanwhile, all western militaries are under pressure to reduce their budgets, either from anti-war groups or, as in the case of the US and UK, because they’re fighting a massively expensive war while at the same time engaging in an ever-increasing number of military interventions worldwide. Private military firms profit at this juncture, exacerbating the problem by deploying complex weapons systems that military leaders cannot operate without the expertise of private personnel.

Americans who are alienated and disturbed by the opacity of their government’s many military operations abroad have been fascinated by the shadowy culture of for-profit military companies since the beginning of the Iraq occupation.

In this far-reaching study, Servants of War: Private Military Corporations and the Profit of Conflict (Soft Skull Press / Counterpoint; Trade Paper Original; Jan 2009; $15.95; 978-1-59376-202-5), Rolf Uessler exposes the ways in which the employment of for-profit military organizations compromises justice, jeopardizes international peace and stability, and escapes public scrutiny. Servants of War reveals what happens when security and military operations are shielded from democratic processes and tied to profit, and the concern for justice and security is overshadowed by the desire for financial gain.

Rolf Uessler was born in 1943 in Dortmund and studied economy, psychology, and journalism. He has lived in Rome as a freelance writer and researcher since 1979. His work focuses on illegal activity in the world economy, organized crime, and shadow economies; privatization and de-democratization; and mafia and government in Italy. The author was active for more than a decade in the Italian anti-mafia movement and has developed tools for the analysis of money laundering and of illegal financial transactions.

He has written numerous essays on this topic in German and Italian journals. His published books include: Mafia, Myth, Power, Mora (Bonn 1987), Challenge Mafia, Strategies against organized Crime (Bonn 1993) (both books published in German).


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