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Gilbert Bourgeaud, better known by his nom de guerre \u201cBob Denard\u201d was shot in the head at least twice, married seven times and had at least three religious conversions. And on September 28th, 1995, he launched his fourth and final attempt to take control of the Comoros islands with his own private army.\nIn fact, since gaining its independence from France in 1975, the Comoros islands have experienced more than 20 coups or attempted coups and several assassinations of their heads of state. And Denard was involved with a good proportion of them.\nIn this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly look into Denard\u2019s incredible CV, which ranges from selling kitchen appliances to overthrowing countries; explore how the mercenaries of yesterday turned into the military contractors of today; and consider how Denard\u2019s obituaries show just how far we've come as a society considering how many of them described him as \u201ccolourful\u201d.\nFurther Reading:\n\u2022 \u2018Comoros coup leader surrenders to France\u2019 (The Independent, 1995): https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/comoros-coup-leader-surrenders-to-france-1576191.html\xa0\n\u2022 \u2018Bob Denard obituary\u2019 (The Guardian, 2007): https://www.theguardian.com/news/2007/oct/16/guardianobituaries.france\xa0\n\u2022 \u2018Bob Denard: French Mercenary Who Caused Chaos in Africa\u2019 (African Biographics, 2021): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qq4lfcJpVGs\xa0\nLove the show? Join\xa0\U0001f334CLUB RETROSPECTORS\xa0\U0001f334 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY!\nPlus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast.\nJoin now via\xa0Apple Podcasts\xa0or\xa0Patreon.\xa0Thanks!\nWe'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts:\xa0podfollow.com/Retrospectors\nThe Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.\nTheme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.\nCopyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.\n Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices