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Andy McNab's Army Memoirs
Bravo Two Zero
In January 1991, eight members of the SAS regiment embarked upon a top secret mission that was to infiltrate them deep behind enemy lines. Under the command of Sergeant Andy McNab, they were to sever the underground communication link between Baghdad and north-west Iraq, and to seek and destroy mobile Scud launchers. Their call sign: BRAVO TWO ZERO.
Each man laden with 15 stone of equipment, they patrolled 20km across flat desert to reach their objective. Within days, their location was compromised. After a fierce fire fight, they were forced to escape and evade on foot to the Syrian border. In the desperate action that followed, though stricken by hypothermia and other injuries, the patrol 'went ballistic'. Four men were captured. Three died. Only one escaped. For the survivors, however, the worst ordeals were to come. Delivered to Baghdad, they were tortured with a savagery for which not even their intensive SAS training had prepared them.
Bravo Two Zero is a breathtaking account of Special Forces soldiering: a chronicle of superhuman courage, endurance and dark humour in the face of overwhelming odds.
Each man laden with 15 stone of equipment, they patrolled 20km across flat desert to reach their objective. Within days, their location was compromised. After a fierce fire fight, they were forced to escape and evade on foot to the Syrian border. In the desperate action that followed, though stricken by hypothermia and other injuries, the patrol 'went ballistic'. Four men were captured. Three died. Only one escaped. For the survivors, however, the worst ordeals were to come. Delivered to Baghdad, they were tortured with a savagery for which not even their intensive SAS training had prepared them.
Bravo Two Zero is a breathtaking account of Special Forces soldiering: a chronicle of superhuman courage, endurance and dark humour in the face of overwhelming odds.
416 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
635 people are currently reading
6846 people want to read
About the author
Andy McNab
204 books1,175 followersAndy McNab joined the infantry in 1976 as a boy soldier. In 1984 he was badged as a member of 22 SAS Regiment. He served in B Squadron 22 SAS for ten years and worked on both covert and overt special operations worldwide, including anti-terrorist and anti-drug operations in the Middle and Far East, South and Central America and Northern Ireland.
Trained as a specialist in counter terrorism, prime target elimination, demolitions, weapons and tactics, covert surveillance and information gathering in hostile environments, and VIP protection, McNab worked on cooperative operations with police forces, prison services, anti-drug forces and western backed guerrilla movements as well as on conventional special operations. In Northern Ireland he spent two years working as an undercover operator with 14th Intelligence Group, going on to become an instructor.
McNab also worked as an instructor on the SAS selection and training team and instructed foreign special forces in counter terrorism, hostage rescue and survival training.
Andy McNab has written about his experiences in the SAS in two bestselling books, Bravo Two Zero (1993) and Immediate Action (1995). Bravo Two Zero is the highest selling war book of all time and has sold over 1.7 million copies in the UK. To date it has been published in 17 countries and translated into 16 languages. The CD spoken word version of Bravo Two Zero, narrated by McNab, sold over 60,000 copies and earned a silver disc. The BBC's film of Bravo Two Zero, starring Sean Bean, was shown on primetime BBC 1 television in 1999 and released on DVD in 2000.
Immediate Action, McNab's autobiography, spent 18 weeks at the top of the bestseller lists following the lifting on an ex-parte injunction granted to the Ministry of Defence in September 1995. To date, Immediate Action has now sold over 1.4 million copies in the UK.
McNab is the author of seven fast action thrillers, highly acclaimed for their authenticity and all Sunday Times bestsellers. Published in 1997, Remote Control was hailed as the most authentic thriller ever written and has sold over half a million copies in the UK. McNab's subsequent thrillers, Crisis Four, Firewall, Last Light , Liberation Day , Dark Winter , Deep Black and Aggressor have all gone on to sell equally well. The central character in all the books is Nick Stone, a tough ex-SAS operative working as a 'K' on deniable operations for British Intelligence.
McNab's fiction draws extensively on his experiences and knowledge of Special Forces soldiering. He has been officially registered by Neilsen Bookscan as the bestselling British thriller writer of the last year.
Trained as a specialist in counter terrorism, prime target elimination, demolitions, weapons and tactics, covert surveillance and information gathering in hostile environments, and VIP protection, McNab worked on cooperative operations with police forces, prison services, anti-drug forces and western backed guerrilla movements as well as on conventional special operations. In Northern Ireland he spent two years working as an undercover operator with 14th Intelligence Group, going on to become an instructor.
McNab also worked as an instructor on the SAS selection and training team and instructed foreign special forces in counter terrorism, hostage rescue and survival training.
Andy McNab has written about his experiences in the SAS in two bestselling books, Bravo Two Zero (1993) and Immediate Action (1995). Bravo Two Zero is the highest selling war book of all time and has sold over 1.7 million copies in the UK. To date it has been published in 17 countries and translated into 16 languages. The CD spoken word version of Bravo Two Zero, narrated by McNab, sold over 60,000 copies and earned a silver disc. The BBC's film of Bravo Two Zero, starring Sean Bean, was shown on primetime BBC 1 television in 1999 and released on DVD in 2000.
Immediate Action, McNab's autobiography, spent 18 weeks at the top of the bestseller lists following the lifting on an ex-parte injunction granted to the Ministry of Defence in September 1995. To date, Immediate Action has now sold over 1.4 million copies in the UK.
McNab is the author of seven fast action thrillers, highly acclaimed for their authenticity and all Sunday Times bestsellers. Published in 1997, Remote Control was hailed as the most authentic thriller ever written and has sold over half a million copies in the UK. McNab's subsequent thrillers, Crisis Four, Firewall, Last Light , Liberation Day , Dark Winter , Deep Black and Aggressor have all gone on to sell equally well. The central character in all the books is Nick Stone, a tough ex-SAS operative working as a 'K' on deniable operations for British Intelligence.
McNab's fiction draws extensively on his experiences and knowledge of Special Forces soldiering. He has been officially registered by Neilsen Bookscan as the bestselling British thriller writer of the last year.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 517 reviews
January 23, 2020
This is a great book.
BTZ is one of the more famous SF operations (gone wrong) stories told in the modern era, made even more popular in a namesake movie with Ned Stark. It is told from the POV of the patrol leader Andy (pseudonym) leading his eight-man team on cable-cutting and Scud-hunting mission in Iraq just before the ground invasion phase of the 1991 Gulf War. They get discovered, they get captured.
Most of the focus is actually not on the fighting - even though the introduction and the brief combat elements are rather engaging - but it is on the evasion and escape, the difficult weather conditions, the separation of the team into two groups, the death of some of the patrol members, and then the eventual capture of Andy just 4 km from the Syrian border.
The second half of the book is about his time in captivity - including interrogations and torture, and it's a somewhat difficult read, because it tells things the way they are - not like in the movies. It's gritty and sad. On his release, Andy was one of the few who did not suffer from PTSD, and he went back to his life without too many traumas, but still a changed man.
However, the best piece is the last piece.
Andy tells a story how an army captain changed his life - you're not thick, you're uneducated - and how he finally read his first book (something for 10-year-olds) when he was about 20, and that this was the proudest moment of his life. And from someone who could barely read to a bestseller, well that's quite a ride that transcends bullets and explosions.
Andy's message to kids in schools (and those in trouble with the law) is that education should come first. That this was the most important part of his SAS journey - not the missions. It's a very humble and emotional message.
I also know some people who say they know Andy - and I've seen there's a lot of controversy around the book, and the follow up books (by Chris Ryan and another SAS fellow) sort of stir up a controversy, but I'm really not interested in the politics and the intrigue. I take BTZ for what it is, and it's a really good, engaging soldier's story, with some less than glamorous details you don't normally think about when you speak militarese.
Quite recommended.
Igor
BTZ is one of the more famous SF operations (gone wrong) stories told in the modern era, made even more popular in a namesake movie with Ned Stark. It is told from the POV of the patrol leader Andy (pseudonym) leading his eight-man team on cable-cutting and Scud-hunting mission in Iraq just before the ground invasion phase of the 1991 Gulf War. They get discovered, they get captured.
Most of the focus is actually not on the fighting - even though the introduction and the brief combat elements are rather engaging - but it is on the evasion and escape, the difficult weather conditions, the separation of the team into two groups, the death of some of the patrol members, and then the eventual capture of Andy just 4 km from the Syrian border.
The second half of the book is about his time in captivity - including interrogations and torture, and it's a somewhat difficult read, because it tells things the way they are - not like in the movies. It's gritty and sad. On his release, Andy was one of the few who did not suffer from PTSD, and he went back to his life without too many traumas, but still a changed man.
However, the best piece is the last piece.
Andy tells a story how an army captain changed his life - you're not thick, you're uneducated - and how he finally read his first book (something for 10-year-olds) when he was about 20, and that this was the proudest moment of his life. And from someone who could barely read to a bestseller, well that's quite a ride that transcends bullets and explosions.
Andy's message to kids in schools (and those in trouble with the law) is that education should come first. That this was the most important part of his SAS journey - not the missions. It's a very humble and emotional message.
I also know some people who say they know Andy - and I've seen there's a lot of controversy around the book, and the follow up books (by Chris Ryan and another SAS fellow) sort of stir up a controversy, but I'm really not interested in the politics and the intrigue. I take BTZ for what it is, and it's a really good, engaging soldier's story, with some less than glamorous details you don't normally think about when you speak militarese.
Quite recommended.
Igor
December 20, 2008
First of all, this review is concerned with the book and the book alone; forget the conspiracy, bad mouthing and follow-ups which have followed in the decade since this came out. Instead, I'm just focusing on Bravo Two Zero the book and the book alone.
Of the various true-life war accounts written over the past century, it certainly stands out as a corker, chronicling the ill-fated 1991 mission from beginning to chaotic ending, beginning with the initial planning back at base, moving to behind enemy lines combat, and ending in the various mission members going their separate ways.
McNab writes a believable, in-your-face account of what it’s like to be at the receiving end of brutal torture and the experience of taking part in a fierce firefight, his style alert and friendly, drawing you into the tale and refusing to let you go until the bitter end. It certainly is a brutal story – at least a third is taken up with prolonged descriptions of torture and other barbarity, and death and dehydration abound. Other parts are exciting but tragic, such as the heroic shoot-outs which result in death and destruction, I couldn’t put the book down.
It stands as a testament to McNab’s skill that he propels you along energetically despite the subject matter, with entertainment being the keyword here, and it IS entertaining – I’m sure most readers have dreamed about what it would like to be a soldier, well this is your chance to face the savage truth and I guarantee it’ll put most off for life or give you a taste for similar non-fiction works.
Of the various true-life war accounts written over the past century, it certainly stands out as a corker, chronicling the ill-fated 1991 mission from beginning to chaotic ending, beginning with the initial planning back at base, moving to behind enemy lines combat, and ending in the various mission members going their separate ways.
McNab writes a believable, in-your-face account of what it’s like to be at the receiving end of brutal torture and the experience of taking part in a fierce firefight, his style alert and friendly, drawing you into the tale and refusing to let you go until the bitter end. It certainly is a brutal story – at least a third is taken up with prolonged descriptions of torture and other barbarity, and death and dehydration abound. Other parts are exciting but tragic, such as the heroic shoot-outs which result in death and destruction, I couldn’t put the book down.
It stands as a testament to McNab’s skill that he propels you along energetically despite the subject matter, with entertainment being the keyword here, and it IS entertaining – I’m sure most readers have dreamed about what it would like to be a soldier, well this is your chance to face the savage truth and I guarantee it’ll put most off for life or give you a taste for similar non-fiction works.
December 18, 2016
"I can read you like a book, and not a very good book. Certainly not Bravo Two Zero by Andy McNab. Which actually improves with every read." Alan Partridge.
As an Alan Partidge devotee, I thought it only proper I should read the great man's favourite book. It tells the story of an SAS misson during the first Gulf War. As an insight into the functioning of a special forces unit, it's a great read. Although heavy on jargon and military slang, it's always fast paced and it never gets in the way of the story.
For me one interesting thing was how the prose style was so different to what I normally read. I'm used to wooly liberal platitudes and quite waffly stuff. This was not that. McNab's clear-cut, no-nonsense, military attitude comes through as it is writteen. It was very refreshing, a literary pallette cleanser, if you will.
It's an incredible adventure story, told with suprising humour and warmth at times. It was a lot better than I expected, although unlike Alan, I don't think I'll be re-reading it.
As an Alan Partidge devotee, I thought it only proper I should read the great man's favourite book. It tells the story of an SAS misson during the first Gulf War. As an insight into the functioning of a special forces unit, it's a great read. Although heavy on jargon and military slang, it's always fast paced and it never gets in the way of the story.
For me one interesting thing was how the prose style was so different to what I normally read. I'm used to wooly liberal platitudes and quite waffly stuff. This was not that. McNab's clear-cut, no-nonsense, military attitude comes through as it is writteen. It was very refreshing, a literary pallette cleanser, if you will.
It's an incredible adventure story, told with suprising humour and warmth at times. It was a lot better than I expected, although unlike Alan, I don't think I'll be re-reading it.
November 24, 2019
I am giving this book a rating of 3.5
Review to come soon.
Review to come soon.
June 20, 2008
I enjoyed this book for a number of reasons, but one was the way it was written. I mean I believe I could actually see the method of writing, whether from taped interviews and transcriptions or from careful notes. The book was written the way McNab speaks and that voice is what comes through. You get the sense you are being told the story by a gifted story-teller, the kind of guy you want to hang out with and listen to his stories because, first and last, he tells a good story. The narrative moves from dramatic descriptions and character interaction to explication smoothly, beautifully. If McNab wrote this without editorial help, he has a rare kind of genius. I am reminded of Joe Simpson's Touching the Void, a first-time book that has amazing vividness and pacing; and then there's Arabian Sands by Thesiger, which has similar vividness.
Regardless of truth or fact or whether you like tales of men doing manly things, Brave Two Zero has literary merit in a number of ways lacking in most fiction today. Whether this is viewed as autobiography or fictionalized biography, it's a great read. What do we pick up a book for, anyway? Isn't it to be entertained? Oy! Another pint, please.
Regardless of truth or fact or whether you like tales of men doing manly things, Brave Two Zero has literary merit in a number of ways lacking in most fiction today. Whether this is viewed as autobiography or fictionalized biography, it's a great read. What do we pick up a book for, anyway? Isn't it to be entertained? Oy! Another pint, please.
January 18, 2018
4,25 stars - English paperback - Thanks Trevor for the book - found the raiding entery in an old agenda. 🌷🌸🌷
September 1, 2017
Perhaps the ultimate action thriller - because it's all true. Mere mortals can only wonder at the feats of sheer physical endurance, not to mention courage and resourcefulness, displayed by members of the world's elite fighting force. Enough said? I won't bother to repeat what many learned commentators have said before me. I've read the book several times, and it never fails to grip and amaze.
March 21, 2021
Amazing. I am old enough to remember the 1st Gulf War when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. I was in the Middle East (ok - Saudi Arabia) for the invasion, and still vividly remember seeing the Stealth Bomber on the ramp at Riyadh airport - when the Americans were still denying its existence.
Now onto the book... Like most people, I remember the hype that surrounded this book's release, and wasn't too impressed. But, times change, and when this book came up on Amazon's Kindle Daily Deal, I was interested enough to get a sample... Which caused me to buy the book, and promptly forget about it - until it was serialised in the newspaper.
I started reading it, and realised that I had maligned this book for years. It's well written, and the author makes no apologies for his actions, and does a wonderful job of conveying the camaraderie that is formed in a unit.
He also details the treatment received at the hands of his captors - that doesn't make for pleasant reading I have to admit - but Andy is honest enough to admit that he would happily remove certain people from existence.
I have to admit, this isn't your "lie on a beach / by a pool" book - but it does make for an engrossing read. Would I recommend it? Yes. If you like you memoirs gritty and unpretentious, then this is the book for you. If you're easily offended? Nope - not for you, as the language can be a little rich at times....
Now onto the book... Like most people, I remember the hype that surrounded this book's release, and wasn't too impressed. But, times change, and when this book came up on Amazon's Kindle Daily Deal, I was interested enough to get a sample... Which caused me to buy the book, and promptly forget about it - until it was serialised in the newspaper.
I started reading it, and realised that I had maligned this book for years. It's well written, and the author makes no apologies for his actions, and does a wonderful job of conveying the camaraderie that is formed in a unit.
He also details the treatment received at the hands of his captors - that doesn't make for pleasant reading I have to admit - but Andy is honest enough to admit that he would happily remove certain people from existence.
I have to admit, this isn't your "lie on a beach / by a pool" book - but it does make for an engrossing read. Would I recommend it? Yes. If you like you memoirs gritty and unpretentious, then this is the book for you. If you're easily offended? Nope - not for you, as the language can be a little rich at times....
April 22, 2013
What an exhilarating read! different versions of the real-life mission notwithstanding I am compelled to say, this book's narrative sounded as close as one could get to being sincere.
Only a man from the trenches could narrate so gruesome a story of interrogation and surviving it.
I was honestly surprised that a highly trained commando could write so well. Maybe he had help but not all that way I am hoping.
A must-read for all action-thriller lovers. However, I say that in reverence and deep respect for the soldiers who made such unmatchable sacrifice.
Only a man from the trenches could narrate so gruesome a story of interrogation and surviving it.
I was honestly surprised that a highly trained commando could write so well. Maybe he had help but not all that way I am hoping.
A must-read for all action-thriller lovers. However, I say that in reverence and deep respect for the soldiers who made such unmatchable sacrifice.
March 9, 2021
You can just tell Andy McNab is a dweeb. Any soldier that claims he is irresponsible for his actions and unaware of the way his actions are impacting people because he is purely on a 'mission' is talking nonsense. Claiming to be 'just a soldier' doesn't excuse having an active part in an illegal war and the killing of innocents, have some principles Mr McNab.
February 1, 2021
This book has such a slow beginning - if you are really into guns, military planning and macho banter, then you'll probably love it, but I found it a bit of a slog to start with. But once the 8 man team is sent behind enemy lines, and everything goes to hell, it's a story that races along.
Forget all the arguments about how 'real' this story is, McNab does an excellent job of making it readable. Such a small thing - a goat herd in the wrong place - means their well planned mission is compromised, and what fallows is a dangerous race, in freezing temperatures, to get to the Syrian border. Within site of the fence, McNab is captured and tortured for anything he might know.
As you read, you know it's not 100% accurate - no-one going through what he did would remember the conversations to that detail - but it definitely gives you the essence of what happened. Just like a 'based on true facts' film gives you the general feeling of some event. And the fact that you know that some of it is true is enough to make the hairs stand up on your neck. Some of it is hard to read, for many different reasons, but whether you take it as fact or fiction, it's still a bloody good read.
Forget all the arguments about how 'real' this story is, McNab does an excellent job of making it readable. Such a small thing - a goat herd in the wrong place - means their well planned mission is compromised, and what fallows is a dangerous race, in freezing temperatures, to get to the Syrian border. Within site of the fence, McNab is captured and tortured for anything he might know.
As you read, you know it's not 100% accurate - no-one going through what he did would remember the conversations to that detail - but it definitely gives you the essence of what happened. Just like a 'based on true facts' film gives you the general feeling of some event. And the fact that you know that some of it is true is enough to make the hairs stand up on your neck. Some of it is hard to read, for many different reasons, but whether you take it as fact or fiction, it's still a bloody good read.
June 23, 2025
Spännande och svårt att sluta läsa! Dock synd att innehållet inte är så verklighetsbaserat som det påstår sig vara
October 11, 2013
Not a book I would normally have gravitated to but I admit, I was curious because the year I worked in a bookshop, this was our top seller. Also, this is the book I have bought most copies of ever, not for myself but from a variety of wholesale intermediaries as demand outstripped supply that year. So probably time to read it. I nearly did so about a decade ago but saw a bit of a TV version and found it unwatchable. Then I got a free copy, can't remember why though. Anyway, at nearly 20 years later, the time seemed overdue to read this.
I can see why this was popular, it is a bit of a page turner. Though it could have been called 101 ways I was tortured and things do slow down as he is tortured for at least half the book and it is quite repetitive. Nonetheless, this is the best account of what it is like to suffer so that I've read and is hopefully the nearest I will ever come to suffering this myself. Reminds me of Orwell's account of being wounded in Spain a little, which is the perfect near death tale.
Andy's frankness is also remarkably disarming. He affects no graces whether talking about his failed relationships, SAS life or the torture and you have to congratulate him for that. All-in-all, this left me with renewed gratitude that there are people out there doing this on our behalf. The explanation of the uses of explosives was discomforting (terrorists must have much the same attitude) but again you can't fault the honesty.
The only thing that doesn't ring true is all the detail about their procdedures. You do have to wonder if he would really explain how the SAS work and their torture resistance techniques, as all the next enemy needs to do is read the book to understand them and develop effective counter measures. In this sense, I think Andy may be being more discrete than he appears. The SAS must surely know of Che Guevara's work on revolution which was read by the CIA and used to develop counter-insurgency methods. The lesson of which is don't print how you do stuff as it is a gift to your foes in the future.
I can see why this was popular, it is a bit of a page turner. Though it could have been called 101 ways I was tortured and things do slow down as he is tortured for at least half the book and it is quite repetitive. Nonetheless, this is the best account of what it is like to suffer so that I've read and is hopefully the nearest I will ever come to suffering this myself. Reminds me of Orwell's account of being wounded in Spain a little, which is the perfect near death tale.
Andy's frankness is also remarkably disarming. He affects no graces whether talking about his failed relationships, SAS life or the torture and you have to congratulate him for that. All-in-all, this left me with renewed gratitude that there are people out there doing this on our behalf. The explanation of the uses of explosives was discomforting (terrorists must have much the same attitude) but again you can't fault the honesty.
The only thing that doesn't ring true is all the detail about their procdedures. You do have to wonder if he would really explain how the SAS work and their torture resistance techniques, as all the next enemy needs to do is read the book to understand them and develop effective counter measures. In this sense, I think Andy may be being more discrete than he appears. The SAS must surely know of Che Guevara's work on revolution which was read by the CIA and used to develop counter-insurgency methods. The lesson of which is don't print how you do stuff as it is a gift to your foes in the future.
July 19, 2017
I was looking for books covering the politics and upheavals in Middle East. This book is biography of a Special operations soldier - SAS from UK. The operation - Bravo Two Zero was carried out in 1st Gulf war in 1998, I picked thinking its from the 2003 Iraq war. But glad I did. The mission was to survey the scuds, cable lines in Iraq and the operation was called Bravo Two Zero.
When reading the risky operation, the responsibilities, the decisions to be taken on the fly, the physical and mental pressure, stories of endurance of the soldiers from the patrol, one can't stop wondering if man really has the potential to endure so much pain. It is definitely extraordinary story of extraordinary people. (btw, there were accusations that McNab exaggerated, would be picking Soldier Five by another member from same team)
The book was more from a soldier's point of view, and the opinions expressed over humanity were restricted to that of a prisoner i.e. with the Iraqis seen in bad light. But this is a soldiers tale in the battlefield and is fair.
I wonder if there are any books from the other side, a Iraqi civilian's view of foreign troops in their country. What must have been on the mind's of Iraqi people and soldiers when they saw foreign army enter their land and air - the great Iraqi Invasion. Though we agree that Saddam was a terror but we know that Iraq in his time was far better than what is now - ruled by Al Qaeda and ISIS.
Looking back, we know that there were no weapons of mass destruction. The lives of these brave soldiers were risked for what? Was it really for protection of civilians? The torture and deaths of soldiers, civilians .. was it all worth?
When reading the risky operation, the responsibilities, the decisions to be taken on the fly, the physical and mental pressure, stories of endurance of the soldiers from the patrol, one can't stop wondering if man really has the potential to endure so much pain. It is definitely extraordinary story of extraordinary people. (btw, there were accusations that McNab exaggerated, would be picking Soldier Five by another member from same team)
The book was more from a soldier's point of view, and the opinions expressed over humanity were restricted to that of a prisoner i.e. with the Iraqis seen in bad light. But this is a soldiers tale in the battlefield and is fair.
I wonder if there are any books from the other side, a Iraqi civilian's view of foreign troops in their country. What must have been on the mind's of Iraqi people and soldiers when they saw foreign army enter their land and air - the great Iraqi Invasion. Though we agree that Saddam was a terror but we know that Iraq in his time was far better than what is now - ruled by Al Qaeda and ISIS.
Looking back, we know that there were no weapons of mass destruction. The lives of these brave soldiers were risked for what? Was it really for protection of civilians? The torture and deaths of soldiers, civilians .. was it all worth?
June 14, 2011
A must read for all fans of true war stories. I think most people in the UK, if not the western world, who was around at the time of the first Iraq war will have at least heard of this mission. This narrative takes us from the period when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait up until after the war had ended and the prisoners of the patrol code-named Bravo-Two-Zero returned home.
I find that it is almost always worthwhile reading first-hand accounts alongside the 'official' histories as they tell you much more and also provide you with the small but ultimately what can be the important details. Andy McNab does this, and provides an insight not only into what happened, but also what he was thinking and feeling at the time. His descriptions of his torture is brutal but not gratuitous, and includes his own perspective which surprisingly, is not 'these guys are evil' and in fact relates his surprise at points that he is not tortured as bad as the horror stories about what had happened to Iranian prisoners a decade earlier had led him to expect.
I will say that it is worth reading The One That Got Away: My SAS Mission Behind Iraqi Lines as well to provide the different interpretations of the same events by two different people with two different outlooks and attitudes.
I find that it is almost always worthwhile reading first-hand accounts alongside the 'official' histories as they tell you much more and also provide you with the small but ultimately what can be the important details. Andy McNab does this, and provides an insight not only into what happened, but also what he was thinking and feeling at the time. His descriptions of his torture is brutal but not gratuitous, and includes his own perspective which surprisingly, is not 'these guys are evil' and in fact relates his surprise at points that he is not tortured as bad as the horror stories about what had happened to Iranian prisoners a decade earlier had led him to expect.
I will say that it is worth reading The One That Got Away: My SAS Mission Behind Iraqi Lines as well to provide the different interpretations of the same events by two different people with two different outlooks and attitudes.
January 7, 2013
Iraq, January 1991.
During the first war in Iraq, one team of 8 soldiers of the Royal Special Air Service, the elite special forces of the Royal Army, was sent to operate beyond the Iraqi lines, in the middle of the desert. The name of the team was BRAVO TWO ZERO and their mission was to cut off some phone lines and to destroy Scud missiles mobile launch stations of Suddam Hussein. After a huge fight against Iraqi troops they aborted the original mission and instead escaped toward the border with Syria. Four of them were captured, just one was able to escape and the other three died.
Andy McNab describes in this book step by step every single moment of those days in the desert, his and his team's feelings, worries and emotions.
This is a great book not just for the story itself but because the author describes in particular the special forces strategies, how to plan a mission, how to survive in a desert when you are not well equipped (because the intel info were not detailed enough) and how to conduct one enemy tactical interrogation. The book is so well written that you can see yourself in the room with Andy during an interrogation or in jail. However, my favorite part of the book is the fact that all his considerations and all his lessons learned and are still actual and still useful for military guys like me.
Really great book.
During the first war in Iraq, one team of 8 soldiers of the Royal Special Air Service, the elite special forces of the Royal Army, was sent to operate beyond the Iraqi lines, in the middle of the desert. The name of the team was BRAVO TWO ZERO and their mission was to cut off some phone lines and to destroy Scud missiles mobile launch stations of Suddam Hussein. After a huge fight against Iraqi troops they aborted the original mission and instead escaped toward the border with Syria. Four of them were captured, just one was able to escape and the other three died.
Andy McNab describes in this book step by step every single moment of those days in the desert, his and his team's feelings, worries and emotions.
This is a great book not just for the story itself but because the author describes in particular the special forces strategies, how to plan a mission, how to survive in a desert when you are not well equipped (because the intel info were not detailed enough) and how to conduct one enemy tactical interrogation. The book is so well written that you can see yourself in the room with Andy during an interrogation or in jail. However, my favorite part of the book is the fact that all his considerations and all his lessons learned and are still actual and still useful for military guys like me.
Really great book.
June 14, 2011
As a fan of military history, I do have a passing understanding the 22nd Special Air Service with our allies in England. The boys at Hereford are a tough lot and we used the Regiment in establishing our own 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta. If you find yourself in the mood to find out what tough really is, read this book.
Bravo Two Zero is a harrowing story. One that you may have heard about once or twice in passing. The story is not so much about the failure of a patrol to locate and destroy Scud in Iraq, but about human perseverance and the chronicle of one man and his men and how they survived over a month of capture and torture at the enemy's hands.
Andy McNab's writing style is sharp, concise, and reads more like a narrative story than anything else. It's a great read and at the end of it, you will have a greater appreciation of the men who go out there to do what they gotta get done.
Another book, written by one of McNab's teammates, Chris Ryan, entitled "The One That Got Away", chronicles Ryan's perspective through the ordeal and the actions he took that led him to have the longest Escape & Evasion period in SAS history (180 miles).
Bravo Two Zero is a harrowing story. One that you may have heard about once or twice in passing. The story is not so much about the failure of a patrol to locate and destroy Scud in Iraq, but about human perseverance and the chronicle of one man and his men and how they survived over a month of capture and torture at the enemy's hands.
Andy McNab's writing style is sharp, concise, and reads more like a narrative story than anything else. It's a great read and at the end of it, you will have a greater appreciation of the men who go out there to do what they gotta get done.
Another book, written by one of McNab's teammates, Chris Ryan, entitled "The One That Got Away", chronicles Ryan's perspective through the ordeal and the actions he took that led him to have the longest Escape & Evasion period in SAS history (180 miles).
January 24, 2020
"Britain's government has spent five years trying to gag Mike Coburn. His account of an SAS mission that went wrong is more about truth than heroics, reports Nick Ryan.
Bravo Two Zero. For many people those three words conjure up the image of the soldier hero: the special-forces trooper - the kind of cool-minded killer who could go anywhere and seemingly do just about anything. It was the call sign for a British Special Air Service (SAS) patrol during a mission in the 1991 Gulf War that was "compromised" behind enemy lines. Three of the eight-man team were killed, and four captured and tortured, while trying to destroy Scud missile launchers in north-west Iraq. One managed to escape by foot across the desert into Syria.
For Andy McNab, the patrol's leader, and Chris Ryan, the soldier who escaped - both names are pseudonyms - the military blunders led, ultimately, to remarkable financial success. Bravo Two Zero, McNab's lionised account of the mission, which was published in 1993, sold millions of copies and launched a slew of copycats. Ryan followed with his story, entitled The One That Got Away."
Bravo Two Zero. For many people those three words conjure up the image of the soldier hero: the special-forces trooper - the kind of cool-minded killer who could go anywhere and seemingly do just about anything. It was the call sign for a British Special Air Service (SAS) patrol during a mission in the 1991 Gulf War that was "compromised" behind enemy lines. Three of the eight-man team were killed, and four captured and tortured, while trying to destroy Scud missile launchers in north-west Iraq. One managed to escape by foot across the desert into Syria.
For Andy McNab, the patrol's leader, and Chris Ryan, the soldier who escaped - both names are pseudonyms - the military blunders led, ultimately, to remarkable financial success. Bravo Two Zero, McNab's lionised account of the mission, which was published in 1993, sold millions of copies and launched a slew of copycats. Ryan followed with his story, entitled The One That Got Away."
February 5, 2010
I'd heard good things about this book and that it contained the amazing (true) story of an SAS patrol operating in Iraq. I had no idea nearly half of the book was about the author's experiences as a POW after his patrol was discovered. What he and others were forced to endure was truly horrible.
The writing wasn't perhaps as polished as a professional writer's, but I thought it added more to the story. It sounded like how a hard-working, professional soldier would describe what was happening to him. As such, the language was coarse at times. On the negative side, it tended to drag on during some sections and the flow of events (esp. when he was telling what happened from others' points of view) could have been better. Being an American, I had to guess sometimes what the (British) author meant by some of the terms he used, but the brief glossary in the back helped with most of them.
Overall, I liked it.
The writing wasn't perhaps as polished as a professional writer's, but I thought it added more to the story. It sounded like how a hard-working, professional soldier would describe what was happening to him. As such, the language was coarse at times. On the negative side, it tended to drag on during some sections and the flow of events (esp. when he was telling what happened from others' points of view) could have been better. Being an American, I had to guess sometimes what the (British) author meant by some of the terms he used, but the brief glossary in the back helped with most of them.
Overall, I liked it.
February 14, 2012
I absolutely loved this book. I only began reading Andy McNabs books last year and have read a few of the Nick Stone series, some of which I have liked and others less so.
This book is completely different in that it is the true account of an SAS mission behind enemy lines. McNabs style of writing could be better however I think that this adds to the authencity of the account. After reading this, I am keen to read the Chris Ryan book "The one that got away" which is by a member of the same mission and will give a different perspective.
All in all I found the book utterly compelling and the fact that it is a true story makes it even more amazing. The author is a brave man. A hero.
This book is completely different in that it is the true account of an SAS mission behind enemy lines. McNabs style of writing could be better however I think that this adds to the authencity of the account. After reading this, I am keen to read the Chris Ryan book "The one that got away" which is by a member of the same mission and will give a different perspective.
All in all I found the book utterly compelling and the fact that it is a true story makes it even more amazing. The author is a brave man. A hero.
December 26, 2015
A very good start and it had me gripped but lost interest and became fustrated quite soon after. A large amount of un needed detail on what I feel could have been cut down. 200 out of 400 pages of the same context spun changed slightly and repeated brought me close to insanity. Bravado for the work gone in but does it seem fabricated, defiantly so. Such a popular book on secrect services and i have no real idea why it's gained such acclaim.
July 17, 2022
Καταπληκτικός λόγος, η πρωτοπρόσωπη αφήγηση σε πιάνει από τον γιακά και δεν σε αφήνει μέχρι την τελευταία σελίδα. Γεμάτο λεπτομέρειες της στρατιωτικής ζωής, δοσμένες όμως με ωραίο και στρωτό τρόπο. Ακόμα και το δεύτερο μισό του βιβλίου, που λόγω θεματολογίας θα περίμενε κανείς να είναι βαρετό, είναι εξίσου δυνατό με το πρώτο. Τώρα, τι από αυτά που λέει μέσα είναι αλήθεια και τι όχι, ίσως δεν το μάθουμε ποτέ...
May 21, 2020
Vrlo napeta, uzbudljiva ispovijest britanskoga vojnika koja će svakog ostaviti s osjećajem neravnodušnosti. Detaljni opisi cijele operacije u Iraku i preživljavanje vojnika htjet ćete pročitati u jednom danu! Nevjerojatno zanimljiva i poučna knjiga, za mene čista petica!
May 2, 2014
A really informative book about what it's like to be in the sas. The levels of torture that Andy and the other men had to go through is just horrific. Certainly not a job that many could do.
April 20, 2019
"Well, at least it can't make us pregnant"
August 19, 2022
It's a very weird thing for me, to read a war memoir written by someone who doesn't question his own actions or mindset. Very educational, I learned a lot about the author's experience of soldiering and of being a POW. Not at all a comfortable read, but a compelling one.
CN: occasional homophobia and racism including slurs, of the sort that was typical for 1993 military blokes but would probably not make it into the book if published today.
CN: occasional homophobia and racism including slurs, of the sort that was typical for 1993 military blokes but would probably not make it into the book if published today.
October 10, 2022
Closer to 4.5 stars
The type of book I’ve been wanting to ready for years and never did…but what a treat
Some of the most exciting tales of e&e I’ve read led to many times I caught myself gritting my teeth and clenching my own jaw to get through. I often feel like written accounts of pain can be too repetitive for it to hit home - this was not
Now on to Chris Ryan’s book and the controversy that follows…
The type of book I’ve been wanting to ready for years and never did…but what a treat
Some of the most exciting tales of e&e I’ve read led to many times I caught myself gritting my teeth and clenching my own jaw to get through. I often feel like written accounts of pain can be too repetitive for it to hit home - this was not
Now on to Chris Ryan’s book and the controversy that follows…
October 19, 2023
Read after meeting the author and finding him to be an interesting chap. Not my usual fare but a page turning trip through what would be a regular person's worst nightmare, told bluntly with humour. Would read some more of the true SAS accounts by AM but not sure I'll stray into the fiction. Fair play to the lad.
November 5, 2022
What a crazy crazy story. Such a page turner. Well written even though I didn’t understand half the terms (realised at the end there’s a glossary on the last page!).
July 23, 2025
Heard so much great about it, that I had High expectations. The first 50 pages was “eh, This is not awesome” but then!!!!..!.!.!.!.!.! Wow! Just Keep Reading
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