Immediate Action

this in my opinon the best sas book out there and the parargraphs on slection is great seeing as i only need to do two more years service till i can attempt selection also the stories of his time in northen ireland,columbia and while on counter terroist duty are all awe inspiring this book also mentioned a man named Gaz Hunter (commander of B squadron) if u like this book should also buy his

Enjoyable read mainly because it was unexpected (0/0 people found this helpful)

I read this book some time after reading Bravo Two Zero which tells the story of Andy McNab's survival in Iraq when his patrol was separated behind enemy lines in Iraq and expected something quite similar in Immediate Action. I was pleasantly surprised to find it somewhat different.

Immediate Action is McNab's autobiography providing what I felt was a fairly frank review of his career in the Regiment starting with what made him sign up to the Army in the first place. He then proceeds to talk in quite some detail of the training regimes he faced throughout his career (especially the Selection process), repeating the same tasks over and over so that he could do it automatically should he need to in a theatre of war. He describes in detail (certainly more detail than others within the SAS would have appreciated) his activities in the various places he served ranging from Northern Ireland to South America.

What surprised me about this book was that there isn't actually a great deal of action in the book - none of the heroic gunfights of Bravo Two Zero, but a more personal perspective on what it's like to realise you are faced with continuous risk of dying or seeing your team members die. That said the cynic might say that McNab comes across as being an everyday shoulder who managed to join the SAS as there's no major heroics in this book - but actually... I think it makes the book that much better.

Interesting, well written (0/0 people found this helpful)

Very good book. One of the better ex-SAS biographies. However, "ianrmillard" has a very good point. The book holds your interest well and although it's very depressing reading about his childhood, etc, it's a very good book - however, at the end of the day it's just the biography of a man who accomplished something, like so many others. It must be taken into consideration that "McNab" is a hated (ex-)soldier in the British army and that most of the other books he has written are meaningless, violent, depressing and boring to quite some extent. Bottom line, however, is that it's a good book and one i would certainly read again. The few pounds spent buying this book are worth it.
(A little personal PS to "ian": the SAS and SBS do use animals for practise on cutting throats. -Rabbits, to be precise. Not so much killing practise as survival practise. Doesn't bring the quality of a book down, either.)

Immediate Action by Andy Mcnab (6/6 people found this helpful)

This book is a masterpiece! I have only just recieved delivery of it 3 days ago and am half way through- but felt compelled to write a review with Immediate Action...! (poor I know, sorry!)

Seriously though, this is a must read for anyone who is vaguely interested in the forces, guns and brutal story telling, even someone who has any interest in fitness stamina etc it has the British Armys finest survival and fitness techniques described and explained so would be a shame to miss out on them.. This book has it all in and is written with fantastic detail and an extremely honest, witty sense of humour.

McNab describes his real life story's with such detail and skill that you feel as though you are there, right next to him in Northen Ireland being fired upon by the IRA and the training selection process for the Regiment (22 Squadron, the SAS); from the Brecon Beacons to the Jungle in Mayaila and feeling the pain from the Interrogation process that completes the training. This has the makings for yet another film on the regiment and would be a complete waste if this didn't happen.

I wont say any more- mainly because I cant! I havnt got far enough but once again, McNab comes out on top. Simply Awesome- a must buy...

Now Watch Me Walk Up A Wall (and get photographed doing it)! (2/5 people found this helpful)

It has to be said that this is a very good read. By all means buy it and enjoy it. Everyone (now) knows how hard SAS selection is and more or less of what it mostly consists (leaving out the bit about how they are said by some to use animals to practise on cutting throats--not in this book). You will not be bored by this book.

Having said the above, one often feels that the major achievement of SAS selection is to make those who get through it feel that (like members of the Legion Etrangere para force) all other members of the human world are inferior to some degree. If you took "McNab" at face value, you would believe these people to be the fittest, most intelligent, most capable people in the UK, if not the world. Um, er, why then do some very many of them fall flat on their faces, get put in prison or end up going off their heads and/or killing themselves once they have to fend for themselves in the sharkpool of civilian life? One has also to remember that a few ex-SAS, more senior than McNab (eg. Peter Ratcliffe) have heavily criticized McNab and (even more so) others who have put pen to paper.

This book details the selection, training and operations of Special Air Service personnel and, as said above, is a highly recommended read. But read it with a little skepticism. Finally, I had to laugh that so many versions of this and McNab's other works are on audio cassette, making one wonder whether (a la the fans of Frederick Forsyth) his readers often find reading a bit hard.

Andy McNab

Reader Reviews:

the best sas book out there (0/0 people found this helpful)

Enjoyable read mainly because it was unexpected (0/0 people found this helpful)

Interesting, well written (0/0 people found this helpful)

Immediate Action by Andy Mcnab (6/6 people found this helpful)

Now Watch Me Walk Up A Wall (and get photographed doing it)! (2/5 people found this helpful)

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