The Hunter, The Hammer, and Heaven: Journeys to Three Worlds Gone Mad [Hardcover]

Robert Young Pelton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2002

A firsthand exploration of war and the people who survive it in three of the most war-ravaged countries on earth: Sierra Leone, Chechnya, and Bougainville.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for Pelton: "One of the oddest and most fascinating travel books."--The New York Times

The author's prose facilitate his travels - colorful and witty in his descriptions of conversations with the locals, he also catches gruesome imagery when relating the horrors of war. [This book] reads like an Indiana Jones script interwoven with political analysis. Readers may finish Pelton's account wondering how he managed to stay alive - and hoping he perseveres to write again."--Virginian Pilot

From the Back Cover

As the author of The World's Most Dangerous Places, Robert Young Pelton has come to know some of the most unusual and dangerous individuals in the world. In The Hunter, the Hammer, and Heaven he introduces an extraordinary cast of characters from three of the most war-ravaged countries on earth - the West African country of Sierra Leone, the breakaway republic of Chechnya, and a mysterious land in the South Pacific called Bougainville, In each location he provides a firsthand exploration of important new developments in conflict, and a unique insight into the forces that are shaping the world's future. In the Hunter, Pelton journeys into the postapocalyptic darkness of Sierra Leone - a small, shattered country emerging from a decade of cruel and nihilistic warfare. As he wanders through the world's most expensive peace-keeping mission, he meets an ex-mercenary who hunts pirates, a ragtag militia whose members believe they have supernatural powers, and white men with "diamond fever." In the Hammer, Pelton enters the jihad in Chechnya with three traveling companions - an American mujahid who wants to die, a young woman entering her first war as a journalist, and a grumpy cameraman. Pelton brings his motley crew along the secret muj trail from America to Georgia to meet the Chechen rebels as the Russian Army sends in a massive army of 150,000 soldiers to subdue the anarchistic republic in their own "War on Terror." His odyssey through terrorist-filled bunkers, suicide squad-manned front lines, SCUD missile attacks, and terrified citizens leads to a desperate escape from the beleaguered city of Grozny. In Heaven, Pelton chronicles his two-year odyssey to meet one of the most elusive rebel leaders in the world - an enigmatic man named Francis Ona who has survived numerous assassination attempts and who threatens to kill any white man who sets foot on his tiny island in the South Pacific. In the course of his travels Pelton meets a cast of colorful and sometimes hilarious characters, from a drunken guide who offers his niece to visitors, to accountants who offer complete armies to desperate governments. As Pelton makes his way to the misty island of Bougainville and closer to Francis Ona, he discovers that the mysterious leader is convinced that Pelton is coming to kill him. Filled with tension and intrigue, The Hunter, The Hammer, and Heaven offers a dramatic vision of war and the people who survive it.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: The Lyons Press; 1st edition (January 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585744166
• ISBN-13: 978-1585744169
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #892,325 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

"Robert Young Pelton is the guy most men think they are after slamming two tequilas" - Tim Cahill

Robert Young Pelton (b. July 25, 1955, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada), is an author, journalist and documentary filmmaker. An iconoclast known for his entry into most of the world's conflicts over the last fifteen years, Pelton is known as an adventurer and a witness" to conflict. His reputation is built on his interest and ability to enter forbidden, deadly and violent places and emerge with a stunning story. Pelton has been present at many historic battles. He was US special forces and General Dostum during and after the battle of Qala-I-Jangi in Afghanistan, with Chechen rebels during the siege of Grozny in Chechnya, with the LURD rebels during the bloody campaign to take Monrovia in Liberia and approximately 3 dozen other conflicts.

He survived an assassination attempt in Uganda, a plane crash in Indonesia and was kidnapped by the AUC death squads in Colombia. He spent time with the CIA during the hunt for Bin Laden and ran Route Irish with Blackwater security contractors for a month during late 2004 during the war in Iraq.

Pelton's regularly published survival and political guide The World's Most Dangerous Places, provides practical and survival information for people who work and travel in high risk zones, was a best seller. With the book's best seller status Pelton has become an expert on work and travel in "high-risk" environments. He was also host of the Discovery Travel Channel series "Robert Young Pelton's The World's Most Dangerous Places" from 1998 to 2003. Now residing in Los Angeles, California, Pelton currently writes books and produces documentaries on conflict-related subjects.

He is also a frequent television and magazine interview subject, often appearing as an often humorous raconteur of his various misfortunes and safety tips on shows as diverse as Oprah, Conan O'Brien, CNN, Fox, BBC, ABC, CBS, NBC and others.

Pelton has also worked as a journalist for CNN, CBS 60 Minutes, ABC Investigative Division, National Geographic and others. He has probably spent more time with insurgent, rebel and terorist groups than any other journalist and is known for introducing the world to John Walker Lindh with his stunning Dec 2, 2001 battlefield interview on CNN.

Robert Young Pelton's Official Website is:
http://www.comebackalive.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Helpful in Understanding a World Gone Mad, May 28, 2002

By 

Robert D. Steele (Oakton, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Hunter, The Hammer, and Heaven: Journeys to Three Worlds Gone Mad (Hardcover)

I know the author personally. He has spoken twice to my international conference of intelligence professionals from over 40 countries, and by common acclaim has been invited to join us each year, forever.

This is not a "tough guy" or thrill seeker. Robert Young Pelton is an unassuming gentle person who created a niche for himself with his annually updated "World's Most Dangerous Places" and the related Discovery TV program "Come Back Alive," and in the process discovered that most Embassies and most journalists don't look for the truth, much less find it.

In this book, he has done something useful that could not be achieved with his more focused and fragmented country by country almanac of world dangers. He has chosen three representative renditions of hell on earth--one dealing with the greed and corruption of diamond mining in Sierra Leone; another dealing with religious intolerance and government terrorism in Chechnya; and the third dealing with massive environmental as well as economic issues in Papua New Guinea.

Each of the three stories combines a rather matter of fact but most interesting story of exactly how he gets in and out of places and who he sees and what they say; with his insights on where the various parties are clashing and how they are doing. Each of these "case studies" is distinct, but taken together, they give one the sense of dispair that comes from reading Robert Kaplan, or William Shawcross, or Ralph Peters.

Robert Young Pelton is as close as I have found to a true global "intelligence minuteman" capable of getting at ground truth using only legal and ethical methods. He is unique for having traversed the earth and seen it all, as well as for putting such knowledge in the hands of the taxpayers who fund our government's continuing exclusion of such places from the public debate over the future of our peace and prosperity.

If we are ever to get a grip on foreign policy and national security spending, it will be authors such as Robert Young Pelton that make it possible for "the people" to take back the power over how we spend taxpayer funds.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book - Adventure and Modern History in the Making, January 10, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Hunter, The Hammer, and Heaven: Journeys to Three Worlds Gone Mad (Hardcover)

This is a book which takes one's breath away, it was so hard to put down. It is a chilling and accurate picture of life and death in three extremely troubled world areas. Having spent much time myself in rich and not rich countries I am amazed at the consistency of his experience with mine. The book rings true with the voices of smarmy hucksters, bent politicians, the well-intentioned, the men and children with more guns than sense, and the bullying of powerful governments, or pseudo-governments, against ordinary people. What is most amazing is that Pelton was able to survive these death-defying experiences and live to tell these fascinating and true stories from the unbiased viewpoint of an observer rather than the participant that he was. It will always be one of my favorite books. It has everything - history, politics, contemporary events, a touch of romance, and great adventure, all well-written. Indeed, the book is a lesson for cynics who say that there is no more adventure left in the world. Adventure is not dead - it is alive and lying in the places ignored by the mainstream conservative press which only seems to play the sycophant to today's cardboard politicians and their wealthy supporters, all masquerading as world leaders. Pelton shows us what real men - and women - are made of, and how to dispassionately and professionally relate their history in the making.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What a fascinating read, January 11, 2002

By 

Smucks (Queens, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Hunter, The Hammer, and Heaven: Journeys to Three Worlds Gone Mad (Hardcover)

The Hunter, The Hammer and Heaven is a compelling book that transports you to places few of us would dare to go. Pelton is an old hand at surviving in the midst of danger and treachery.

The fast-paced stories of far away places are remarkably vivid and will leave you wanting more. When you're not right there with Pelton on the razor's edge in situations with people who have lived anything but ordinary lives, he's briefing you on the historical background and causes behind the chaos, tragedy and insanity of these places.

I highly recommend this book if you are ready to visit to the dark side of human nature.