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Welcome to Bright Review, the website for Christopher Othen, author of FRANCO'S INTERNATIONAL BRIGADES. Here you will find information about Christopher's book, biographical details, and articles on heists, history, wars, and other things of interest.The newest articles are A Kidnapping in Poland, about Warsaw's most notorious unsolved crime, and Mercenaries, Guns, and Witch Doctors, a request for information about Katanga and the Congo mercenary wars of the 1960s. The most popular article is still Whiter Than White, a look at the life of Andre Stander, the South African policeman turned bankrobber. Check the site timeline here.
A Kidnapping in PolandHistory’s Revenge on Bolesław Piasecki, PAX, and the Falanga (1957-58)Winter in Warsaw. January 1957. A schoolboy on his way home is lured into a taxi. A ransom is demanded. An unusual crime in Communist Poland, made stranger because the boy's father is Bolesław Piasecki, an important man in the political establishment. Is it about the money? Or is it something darker, connected to Piasecki's pre-war past when he marched to a different drummer? CHRISTOPHER OTHEN investigates Poland's most notorious unsolved crime.
Mercenaries, Guns, and Witch DoctorsThe Congo Independence Wars (1960-67)
I am working on a book about the Congo wars of the 1960s that will cover the Katanga secession in 1960, the Simba rebellion of '64, and Jean Schramme's mercenary revolt in '67. Soldiers of fortune, witch doctors, guns, and Belgian colonialism. Can you help? I am interested in hearing from anyone with first hand experience, previously unseen photographs, or in depth knowledge of the Congo or Katanga at that time. E-mail me at brightreview@aol.com or look me up on Skype. My profile mentions the Congo. Discretion is guaranteed - CHRISTOPHER OTHEN.
The Man Who Invented Russian RouletteThe Forgotten Life of Georges Surdez (1900-49)
The suicidal gun game of Russian Roulette originated in Tsarist Russia but remained nameless until it hit America just before the Second World War. Its gambling moniker was the invention of Georges Arthur Surdez, a Swiss-born and Brooklyn-based writer of pulp fiction stories. CHRISTOPHER OTHEN examines the career of a writer from the literary underbelly of American culture.
Whiter Than WhiteRobbing Banks in Apartheid Era South Africa with Police Captain Andre Stander and his Gang (1977-84)Andre Stander was a bank robber, a jailbird, and a Captain in the South African Police at the height of apartheid. In the late 1970s he robbed banks in his lunchtime and investigated crimes in the afternoon. Stander’s double life collapsed when he was sent to prison in 1980 but after three years he escaped and launched a new crime wave with a gang recruited behind bars. CHRISTOPHER OTHEN looks at the life and death of a criminal who always thought he was the smartest kêrel in the room.
Sewer RatsThe OAS, the French Underworld, and the 1976 Société Générale HeistA would-be assassin, a gang of Marseilles crooks, and the biggest bank robbery in French history. In 1976 a hand-picked group of criminals and far-right veterans used the sewers of Nice to break into the Société Générale bank vault. They cleaned out over 30,000,000 francs, leaving police baffled until a jealous wife and a holiday villa provided vital clues. CHRISTOPHER OTHEN demonstrates the best way to rob a French bank. Try not get your feet wet.
Urga, February 1921Baron Roman von Ungern-Sternberg, the Bolshevik Revolution, and the Birth of Modern MongoliaDuring the Russian Civil War Baron von Ungern-Sternberg earned a reputation in Siberia as a sadistic warlord whose excesses did more harm to his own side than to his Communist enemies. When the anti-Bolshevik forces collapsed in 1920 the Baron took his men over the border to Chinese-controlled Mongolia. CHRISTOPHER OTHEN looks at the Baron's capture of the Mongolian capital Urga, the first – and last –step of a crazed attempt to build a Buddhist Empire stretching from Mongolia to Portugal.
What We Do Is SecretMind Games and Germs Burns with Los Angeles Punk Legend Darby Crash (1977-80)A junkie singer, a fatal overdose, and a high school brainwashing programme. Los Angeles' Germs were the hottest punk band of the late seventies thanks to the charisma of their suicidal singer Darby Crash. Unable to decide if he wanted to be a music biz legend or a cult leader Crash fell apart under the pressure of his heroin fuelled lifestyle. CHRISTOPHER OTHEN examines how a fan of Charles Manson and L Ron Hubbard briefly became the most influential figure in the LA underground.
Armed TouristsA Bare Bones Guide to FRANCO'S INTERNATIONAL BRIGADES - the Foreign Volunteers of the Nationalist Army during the Spanish Civil War (1936-39)Crusading Catholics, foreign Fascists, and Muslims with a grudge. The Spanish Civil War set right against left when centuries of grievances erupted into a bloody settling of accounts in 1936. The left-wing volunteers who came from around the world to fight for the Spanish government are well known but more foreigners joined the other side. CHRISTOPHER OTHEN looks at the right-wing version of the International Brigades: the foreign volunteers who fought for General Franco.
Black SheepOne Hundred Years of Bankrupt British Aristocrats, Corrupt Golden Youths, and Frankly Untrustworthy Remittance Men Murdered Earls, bisexual public school men, and war heroes with dark secrets. The political power of Britain’s upper classes may have declined in recent years but their instinct to lie, cheat, murder and steal is as strong as ever. CHRISTOPHER OTHEN is your guide through a library of wrong doing. Please check your morals at the door.
Site TimelineInformation on the construction and administration of Bright Review
The page for dates, contact information, and an easy-on-the-eye list of the Bright Review articles.
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