African Skies is the extraordinary true story of how an ex-Royal Navy fighter pilot left behind Colombia's cocaine war and found himself chasing diamonds, gold, military coups and mining ventures across some of Africa's most dangerous and fascinating countries.

After years flying anti-narcotics operations for the Colombian government, Stephen Harrison-Thomas knows his time in South America is coming to an end. Faced with returning to a conventional airline career he never particularly enjoyed, he begins looking for new opportunities. What starts as a chance conversation inside one of Colombia's most notorious prisons soon leads him to Uganda, where he is unexpectedly drawn into discussions involving military intervention in the Democratic Republic of Congo, diamond concessions and the possibility of helping overthrow a president.

Travelling through Uganda, Congo, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya and beyond, Stephen finds himself navigating a world where fortunes can be made from a handful of rough stones, where gold travels hidden in the most unlikely places, and where political power, military force and natural resources are inseparably linked. Along the way he meets soldiers, generals, traders, miners, chiefs, government officials, smugglers and entrepreneurs, all operating in a continent full of opportunity, danger and unpredictability.

From secret meetings with African leaders and reconnaissance flights over conflict zones to diamond trading in West Africa and the struggle to establish a legitimate mining operation in Ghana, African Skies is a story of risk, ambition and adventure told with humour, honesty and the unique perspective of a man who repeatedly found himself in places most people spend their lives trying to avoid.

More than a tale of diamonds and gold, African Skies is the story of a working-class Yorkshireman who became a fighter pilot, fought in the Falklands War, flew against the drug cartels of Colombia and then went looking for one final great adventure.

Rich in characters, humour, danger and remarkable true events, African Skies is the latest instalment in the acclaimed Dangerous Skies series and a fascinating journey into a continent where almost anything seems possible.