Publisher's Synopsis
This work of fiction follows the lives of Christiaan Bekker, Antos Cavaco, and their families. Cavaco is Portuguese; Bekker is a South African. A fighter pilot for the RAF during WWII, Christiaan meets the wealthy Antos Cavaco while performing a secret mission in northern Portugal. Cavaco is a world class international trader whose late father, Rodolfo Cavaco, has already made a large fortune in weapons trading on the heals of WWI. At the conclusion of WW2 Cavaco takes on Bekker as the company pilot and eventually grooms him as his trusted associate. Together, they win lucrative contracts in the surplus weapons trade, specifically tanks, aircraft, and even submarines. Both men are ably assisted by their attractive and business savvy Dutch wives, both veterans of the WW2 Dutch underground. The Lisbon based firm also acquires an airline as well as two coastal and river shipping companies; one in Portuguese Angola. In 1961 Antos assisted by Christiaan volunteers the company's assets, i.e. aircraft and capital, in a temporarily successful effort to defeat an invasion from Leopoldville, Congo, into Angola by Congolese rebels. To this end they employ South African mercenaries in an airborne operation in support of the Portuguese army.
