Philistine: A professional Soldier in Africa - Hardcover

Griffiths, Mark: - Mark Griffiths is a military veteran and author whose professional life reflects extensive operational experience and a distinguished military lineage. He was born into a Royal Air Force family; his father was a Group Captain DFC and AFC, who wrote Winged Hours and Angel Visits about his escape in WWII. His family includes Adam Hart, author of Operation Pimento, and Simon Hart, author of Ungovernable: The Political Diaries of a Chief Whip. Close family includes one of the former Queen's private pilots, reinforcing a longstanding tradition of national defence and public service. Griffiths is the principal author of the Making a Mark memoir series, grounded in first-hand military experience across multiple theatres of war. His work reflects operational authority shaped by decades of service and an inherited culture of authorship and military discipline.Sartori, Andrea: - Andrea Sartori was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, at the British Military Hospital. She was raised in a politically active and academically distinguished family. Both of her parents were nominated for the Government Senatorship in separate sectors in Buenos Aires, and served as Deans in their respective Faculties. Academic discipline and professional excellence formed the foundation of her upbringing. In 1974, her family emigrated to South Africa during the political instability surrounding the Peronist era. Having grown up speaking Spanish and raised in a multilingual household that included French and Italian, she later learned English upon arrival in South Africa and subsequently Afrikaans through formal schooling. She pursued Fine Arts as a field of study, initially seeking distance from the political environment of her early life. Her professional trajectory, however, returned her to institutional and regulatory work through translation, diplomatic service, and Systems Development. She met Mark Griffiths in 1995, and their shared intellectual and operational backgrounds led to a long-term professional partnership, including the development of national regulatory structures and the publication of their work. The family relocated to the United Kingdom in 2009. They have five adult children.