Suppose you are in the turbulent time period of the 1960’s – 1970’s when various colonial ruled countries in Africa were reaching their independence. There were many different influences working in the countries at that point of time, the Soviet Union was trying to get regimes to be in its favor. Many of these countries were mineral rich, and there was a fight to get the rulers of the country in favor of companies so that they could get advantages of the mineral rights that were being awarded by these countries. It was not unheard of that a country’s Government could be deposed off in a coup, although using mercenaries was not unheard of. As is normal with Forsyth, his novel is based on a lot of detailed research, enough that people who were in this line of business were astounded by the accuracy of these details.

In fact, there is a lot of buzz that the country that Forsyth refers to as Zangaro was actually the country of Equatorial Guinea; the book is supposed to be atleast partly based upon Forsyth’s time as a reported in the Biafran War between Biafra and Nigeria, and in fact, as a part of researching this story, Forsyth was researching how to attempt a coup against the Government of Equatorial Guinea, and it was supposed to cost a ridiculously small sum of a quarter of a million dollars. There is a lot of speculation that there was an actual coup attempt against the Government that was spoiled by Spain.
The book draws mixed reviews, with many people praising the depth of description of the details; however, there was also criticism that there were too many details or preparation and not enough action. The story is about a British mining tycoon learning of a hot discovery of the priceless metal, platinum, in the Central African republic of Zangaro. However, the ruler is leaning towards the Soviet Union, who in turn decide to give him a KGB guard and also send in their own survey team. At the same time, the British tycoon Sir James Manson hires a mercenary, Carlo Alfred Thomas “Cat” Shannon, who had left Zangaro earlier after the side he was supporting failed. They decide to plan an operation in which they will kill the current leader, Jean Kimba, and replace him with their own man. The rest of the story is about the execution of the plan, and how it meets with its challenges.

The Searchers was a movie released in 1956. It was the 12th collaboration between the Western star John Wayne and the director John Ford, and is acknowledged to be one of the best westerns ever made. The movie takes the iconic image of a western hero, who stands alone, and is also seen as an anti-hero. The movie takes the violence, the conflicts between settlers and the native Indians, and most importantly, the emotions that drive a person to a relentless quest, and how this search can harden a person and make him full of hatred. The movie is similar to the story of a Cynthia Ann Parker in 1836, who was kidnapped by native Comanches, spent 24 years with them, and married an Indian chief. She had a complete family, but was taken away from her family by Texas Rangers, driven by her uncle.

The movie is the story of Ethan Edwards (John Wayne, also known as ‘The Duke’), a ex-Confederate soldier returning from the American Civil war. He returns to his brother’s (Aaron) home; they accept him and the money he brings, although it is hinted that Ethan had been upto no good. Soon after, a raid by the native Indian tribe, the Comanches, burns down the homestead and kills his entire set of relatives, except for 2 nieces, Lucy (Pippa Scott) and Debbie (Lana Wood), who are abducted.
A group of Texas Rangers led by Captain Clayton accompanied by Ethan set out in pursuit of the Comanches, and they have clashes with the party. It is soon clear that Ethan is willing to take risks that could get the girls killed, and Captain Clayton is unwilling to take these risks. However, Lucy’s fiancee Brad and Aaron’s adopted son Martin are determined to continue, and find the Comanche camp. Ethan soon reports that he found Lucy’s body and buried her, at this Lucy’s fiancee charges to the Comanche camp and is killed.
Ethan and Martin continue this search, a search that takes them 5 years. In this time, Debbie has crossed childhood and marries an Indian chief called Scar, a native Indian who is the same as Ethan. Just as Ethan hates native Indians, Scar hates the whites. This knowledge transforms Ethan, he is struck by hatred at the fact that Debbie is now married to a native Indian, and his mission is now converted to killing Debbie. Soon after, Martin and Ethan manage to meet Debbie, where Martin manages to save Debbie from getting killed by Ethan.
Martin and Ethan find Debbie again, and this time the hatred in Ethan cannot be controlled. In a conflict, Martin kills Scar, and then Ethan does the incredible, he scalps Ethan. It is then he realizes that this hatred has made him become what he did not want. He realizes his emotions, and brings Debbie back to her friends and safety.

Mother Night is partly a war story, and a spy story (with the syping done during the war), but is more than that. It does not do much about fighting, or about combat, more about the life of a playwright who lives a double life as a spy, and ends up at the end of the war as a shell. The book is a depiction of the plight of the person who ends up with a double identity at the end of the war, a spy who survived the war (not something that a lot of spies did), who feels that he is nationless now, and cannot find anything worthwhile to have as a means of living (the one true love he had, his wife, died during a war battle). In the end, you end up with a person who has no will to live. Part of the message of the book is ‘you end up being what you pretend to be’, and and hence people should be very careful about whatever they try to become.

The story (written in first person) is about this guy called Howard W. Campbell Jr., an American citizen who moves to Germany after World War 1. He stays on in Germany after Hitler comes to power in 1933, and since he is a playwright, he continues to write plays. He associates with members of the Nazi Party, and cares for 2 people – his plays, and his wife Helga (also the actress of his plays). Soon, he has an encounter that sets the stage of the remainder of his life. He meets with a man called Frank Wirtanen, from the US War Department (the US Government did not have a separate spy agency at that point of time), who asks him to become a spy of the US. Campbell refuses, but Frank tells him to think it over.
As the war starts, Joseph Goebbels is the propaganda minister for the Nazis, the one who turned the art of propaganda into a convincing weapon; part of Goebbels assignment is to convert enemies to their cause, and Campbell becomes a part of that effort, rising in esteem and becoming more and more allied to the effort. He would be reviled for his role as a loyal supporter of the Nazis, and criticized as a war criminal. However, Campbell is also a spy for the US, working for the OSS (Office of Strategic Service – the agency that later became the foundation for the CIA), passing on messages through his speeches; however, Campbell does not know the content of the messages he is passing.
However, in the middle of the war, he gets a real shock, when his wife Helga is presumed dead when she was caught in a camp (where she was entertaining German troops) which was over-run by the Soviet Army. Later, near the end of the war, he has a slightly unpleasant conversation with his father-in-law, in which his father-in-law basically tells him that he always suspected that Campbell was a spy, but he was good at his propaganda work that it over-shadowed everything else he may have done. When he is captured by US forces, he gets released due to the efforts of Wirtanen.
Campbell moves to New York City, living a lonely life without any adventure, until there is a confluence of events. He is sought by a Soviet agent looking to re-build his career, by a white supremacist, by the FBI, by the sister of his wife, and by Nazi hunters. He however is almost beyond caring.
Eventually, there is a sequence in which he gets caught by Nazi Hunters, and taken to Israel. What happens to him, to a person who is beyond caring, but who was not a war criminal, but instead a spy who was very effective.

The ancient world was replete with fights and wars. Armies travelled long distances to fight, and warfare was often with massive casualties. One of the most famous kings of the ancient times was Xerxes The Great (Xerxes 1 of Persia), and he was involved with one of the most famous battles of historic times. This was the Battle of Thermopylae (wikipedia), where a much smaller contingent of Greek troops led by the King Leonidas I of Sparta fought till the end to hold off a much larger contingent (in the millions) of Persian troops led by King Xerxes. This was a battle that is part of modern strategy because of the use of terrain planning to level the odds of superior armed forces. King Leonidas was also fighting a rear-guard battle with his Spartan council to get them to support him over this battle, and he wanted to shame them with his valiant sacrifice to take action. In the end, he was betrayed by a traitor (Ephialtes) from within the Greek citizenry who revealed a small path that allowed the Persians to outflank the small Greek army.

The movie is a copy of a graphic comic-book style novel by Frank Miller (with the novel having the same name), and is not a re-telling of the actual battle. It is a heavily dramatized telling of the story, and hence also became controversial. In Iran, the movie was heavily criticized because the movie did not portray the Persian army and its King in a very positive light. The movie was directed by Zack Snyder. The movie was also shot in a novel way, with the characters acting against the background of bluescreens in a Studio (shot in a digital backlot technique). This was seen as very innovative and got a lot of publicity. The score of the movie was also controversial because after release, it started becoming clear that the score seemed to be heavily inspired from other movies, and was eventually acknowledged by Warner Bros. Pictures in an official statement.
The movie is about the conflict between King Leonidas of Sparta and the Persian Emperor Xerxes. Xerxes wants the Greeks to acknowledge their submission to him, something the proud Spartan king refuses to accept. Leonidas now anticipates war, and wants the support of the Council of Sparta and the priesthood (Ephor), but the Ephors do not support him (they have been bought over by the Persians). Without this support, Leonidas sets out with a small force to fight at a superior terrain where we can fight and hold off the numerically many times superior Persians. And hence the battle starts at Thermopylae. where Leonidas refuses riches by Xerxes and promises to make him bleed. The Spartans used their tight formations to defeat the many thrusts by the Persians, but look set for defeat when they are betrayed and a secret path is shown to the Persians.
In Sparta, the Queen is trying to rally support, and eventually manages to get the Council united in battle against the Persians. Eventually, the Spartans are beaten by the sheer force of the Persians, but by this time, the Greeks send in a force that has a much higher number of warriors. With memories of losses against 300 Spartans, the Persian army is low on morale, and eventually lose the final battle, the Battle of Plataea (Wikipedia).