St Jacton Books

Travels with High Frequency is not just a travelogue, it’s a gripping memoir of radio engineer John Jacobs’ extraordinary life.
It’s a world where many of the true tales are linked to significant geopolitical events or natural disasters.
Dive into 40 captivating chapters, each one a window on somewhere off the tourist track, where humour meets sorrow, bathos balances pathos, and tension meets human compassion. Walk in Jacobs’ shoes as he navigates the aftermath of the Rwanda genocide, witnesses results of the Serb ethnic cleansing attempts in Kosovo, senses the undercurrents of the Arab Spring in Libya and feels the palpable danger in Taliban dominated Afghanistan. Share too, in the lighter moments as he enjoys generous hospitality in Kazakhstan, gets to hold 20 kilos of gold in Mauritania and is propositioned in Kinshasa.
You’ll join him with his eye for very human characters with their quirks and foibles in environments where stress runs high and laughter is often the only alternative to tears. The writing is immersive. You’ll feel the grit under your nails as you see and hear the events through his words. Plus, for those with an engineering bent, there’s just enough HF radio content to keep the techies smiling.