Bravo Two-zero |
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Andy McNab
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Pages: 416 (Paperback)
ISBN: 0552153575
Pub: Corgi Books
Pub date: 2005-11-01
Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 95764
Reader Reviews:
fiction (0/0 people found this helpful)
What a load of rubbish! Its a shame that someone from the best regiment in the world had to make up such a story. Making himself out to be a superman when in reality he messed up the whole operation which resulted in the deaths of some very brave men. I thought i was reading a book about factual events when infact it was fiction. After reading EYE OF THE STORM by peter ratcliffe [great book], i have to say that andy mcnab and chris ryan should be totally ashamed!
McNab's first work of fiction (0/0 people found this helpful)
Although the book makes for a gripping read it needs to be taken with quite a pinch of salt. There is no mention of him being strongly advised before departure to take vehicles to make a quick escape if compromised, or of heavily overloading his patrol with kit. Ultimately, by failing to follow his own escape plan south towards friendly units "McNab" contributed to the death of 3 of his team and the capture of all but one of the rest by heading north towards the Euphrates and the most heavily populated area of Iraq. If you want to read what really happened to Bravo Two Zero I would recommend Peter "Billy" Ratcliffe's book Eye of The Storm for a far more down to earth and human, yet just as gripping read.
Great book - definately *based* on a true story (0/0 people found this helpful)
You'd be suprised how many people still haven't read this book, yet everyone has heard of it - maybe due to the film starring Sean Bean released in 1999.
Bravo Two Zero was the call sign of an 8 man SAS team led by Andy McNab (not his real name) dropped deep behind enemy lines in Iraq during the first Gulf war. Their mission was to monitor and disturb the movement and deployment of Scud missiles being used by Saddam Hussein.
The mission goes badly wrong and the team find themselves extremely close to a large force of Iraqi military and a terrain and climate that they were largely unprepared for. They are soon discovered and pursued enormous distances day and night until most of the group have been either killed or captured. McNab was captured and the story recounts in gruesome detail the torture and psycological tecniques used to attempt to break the men down. It's gripping and exciting and you actually feel like you're there with him. These are some very tough guys.
However no review of the book would be complete without mention of the subsequent critisism levelled at McNab by other members of the patrol. Chris Ryan in his book 'The One that Got Away' says that McNab played up his own role and actually was largely responsible for the mission's early failure - Ryan clearly sees himself as the real hero of the mission, being the only member to survive the pursuit and flee to Syria.
Subsequently another surviving member of the expedition, Mike Coburn, released 'Soldier 5: The real truth behind the Bravo Two Zero mission' claiming that neither Ryan or McNab give an accurate portrayal of events and both dramatised the story for the purposes of publication (for example making up most of the major gun battles).
Believe it or not there is then a fourth book by former SAS soldier, Mike Asher, who travels the route of the escape and interviews Iraqi civilians who witnessed the flight of Bravo Two Zero patrol and gives his own view of the likelihood of the events taking place.
I had fun reading all four books and the differences in opinion didn't take anything away from McNab's original Bravo Two Zero.
Read Bravo Two Zero and enjoy it - but don't take it all as fact, and if you want to go further, check out the other books I've mentioned.
a special breed of men (0/0 people found this helpful)
theres no doubt about it this is one of the best sas books out there and is a truly great book and it a definite page turner throughout and you just can help feeling complete and utter patriotism knowing the sas men didnt give in to the enemy even after hour upon hour of beasting's and he even had to eat his own feccisis
good book from andy mcnab
light weight (0/1 people found this helpful)
An enjoyable book which seems a quite frank and honest account of an SAS soldiers expereince in Iraq . Where this book falls down is McNabs writing skills.The torture they went through was quite horrific but I found it hard to relate or feel what they were expereincing as I read it. I felt the chapters dealing with torture could have been written in a deeper and more heart felt way.All and all a good read , look forward to reading Immediate action which I have heard is much better.
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Amazon.co.uk places this book into the following categories:
Books -> Subjects -> Fiction -> Contemporary Fiction: 1970 Onwards -> Lad Lit
Books -> Subjects -> Biography -> General AAS
Books -> Subjects -> History -> General AAS
Books -> Subjects -> History -> Essays, Journals, Letters & True Accounts -> General AAS
Books -> Refinements -> Language (feature_browse-bin) -> English
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Books -> Refinements -> Format (binding_browse-bin) -> Paperback
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