Author's foreword -- What is a mercenary? -- The decline of feudalism and the free companies -- The Condottieri and the Renaissance -- A nation of mercenaries -- Mercenaries in the Age of Reason -- The myth of the legion -- World opinion and twentieth century mercenaries -- What the mercenaries did in the Congo -- Strength and weaknesses of the mercenaries -- The mercenary life -- The Yemen and Biafra -- The future of mercenary soldiers -- Appendix I -- Appendix II.