Thread: Military coup in the UK.

I'm in need of help in locating a book.
So where better to ask than the litarary minds of Arrse?

I read a book nearly 20years ago about the UK military staging a coup in this country due to the government being inept.
The aim was to run the country until a more democratically & accountable governmet could be put in place.
I remember that it ended just after the army had taken control, with "I wonder what will happen next" scenario.

I have no idea who the auther was, or what it was called.
I'd like to read it again in light of the current idiots ruining this country.
Can anyone help?

Originally Posted by Miner

I'm in need of help in locating a book.
So where better to ask than the litarary minds of Arrse?

I read a book nearly 20years ago about the UK military staging a coup in this country due to the government being inept.
The aim was to run the country until a more democratically & accountable governmet could be put in place.
I remember that it ended just after the army had taken control, with "I wonder what will happen next" scenario.

I have no idea who the auther was, or what it was called.
I'd like to read it again in light of the current idiots ruining this country.
Can anyone help?

Don't know the specific book you are looking for, but one of the definitive books on the subject of coups is Edward Luttwak: Coup d'Etat: A Practical Handbook (196

Available here:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Coup-DEtat-P...2744031&sr=8-3

Cheers I'll give that a look.

The book I'm on about was more like a Frederick Forsyth kind of book.

Remeber reading that but for life of me can not remember the name of it or author

Try asking on the forum at abebooks.co.uk It's been a great source of help for me in the past.

Their was a Tv Programme and book called 'A very British Coup' The book was by Chris Mullin. Think thats the one your after?

Vague memory of this one.

Was it called 'The Churchill Commando(s)' or something like that?

I think it was written by the same chap that wrote 'Dixon of Dock Green' IIRC.

Originally Posted by scarletto

Their was a Tv Programme and book called 'A very British Coup' The book was by Chris Mullin. Think thats the one your after?

Have just watched this on 4 on Demand and read the book as well.

No military involvement as I recall.

Originally Posted by LancePrivateJones

Vague memory of this one.

Was it called 'The Churchill Commando(s)' or something like that?

I think it was written by the same chap that wrote 'Dixon of Dock Green' IIRC.

Oh might be that one, i remember reading it, something sticks in my mind, about putting up Churchills Picture, and a train hijacking, though why i dont know.

Their is at the end of the film, the sound and sight of a Saracen driving towards him, if i remember.

Military Coup in the UK? - YES PLEASE!!!!!

Originally Posted by scarletto

Originally Posted by LancePrivateJones

Vague memory of this one.

Was it called 'The Churchill Commando(s)' or something like that?

I think it was written by the same chap that wrote 'Dixon of Dock Green' IIRC.

Oh might be that one, i remember reading it, something sticks in my mind, about putting up Churchills Picture, and a train hijacking, though why i dont know.

Their is at the end of the film, the sound and sight of a Saracen driving towards him, if i remember.

The train hijacking is a major part of the book. It is full of football hooligans and they are made to strip and are hosed down with high pressure water.
Briefly, I remember it was about a group of ex-military vigilantes who confront what the state will not.
I have been trying to get a copy of it myself and I think copies are available from Amazon etc. Can't remember it being made into a film though.
BTW, it was written by Ted Willis, the Dixon of Dock Green man.

Sorry the Saracen was in ' A very British Coup' not Churchill commandoes' Copies are available on Amazon,just ordered one

Originally Posted by LancePrivateJones

Originally Posted by scarletto

Their was a Tv Programme and book called 'A very British Coup' The book was by Chris Mullin. Think thats the one your after?

Have just watched this on 4 on Demand and read the book as well.

No military involvement as I recall.

It's a while since I read it but I recall the threatened hard-left Labour government calling in CND to sort out MOD and then sorting the national finances with massive loans from the peace-loving regimes of Syria and Iraq. More of a dodgy left-wing wet dream than a plan.

Luttwark's book is dated but more practical and based on a study of the 1960s post-colonial banana republics; practical tips on who to arrest, which buildings to seize first etc. Very much on the lines of an academic version of Forsyth's 'Dogs of War'

Thanks for the help guys.
None of the ones mentioned ring a bell at the moment though.
But I'm going to check out the ones mentioned.

I think the book your refering to is "The Churchill Commando".
I remember the train scene and the posters of Churchill. But if my memory serves me correctly did the coup, if that's what is was, not fail at the end. Although it started with the best intentions, by the ex-soldiers involved, it got out of control when seperate Right Wing groups try to stir up racial-disharmony on the streets. At one point the General in charge really believes they have succeded in changing the country only to realise that British society was on the verge of tearing itself apart.
Happily for the PC brigade he is then murdered by a multi-racial mob.
There, i've saved you the bother of reading it again.
BTW, it was about 20 years ago that i first read it, in GW1, did you nick it from me?