The Trader: The real life story of a colonial boy who became an international trader, arms merchant and intelligence agent Paperback – 30 Sept. 2021

I think the author does himself no service when, in the preface, he suggests that his life has been a mixture of luck, and being in the right place at the right time. In my humble opinion - even if Mr Pellew-Harvey (or Mr Bill as he was affectionately called) had been dumped in the middle of the ocean, he would've seen some sort of business opportunity and made a great success from it! I think he is lucky, in the respect, that he was born with a great sense of adventure and the 'drive' to actually tackle a problem instead of perhaps taking the easy route and leaving it to someone else - but the majority of people who, even if they had been in the 'right place at the right time' wouldn't have realised it. Mr Harvey is the living proof of the saying "If life throws you Lemons - make Lemonade"What a life! ... I look forward to Book 2!

Not quite sure where to start to review this book as it tells a truly extraordinary story.I tried to explain it to my son that this is a guy who brought frozen chips to the UK, acted for the UN to help combat the drug suppllies from Thailand, supplied Gadafi and Iraq with legitimate weapons and spied on both of them for the allies - and that's only part of the story!The story of a man who just kept re-inventing himself and his business as opportunities arose - an honest and simple account of a life that has covered so much. I just loved the line that goes something like "he found himself as a single parent aged 72"It's the most involving book I have read in a long time

A good book, the author has lived an exciting life.