Bravo two zero

by Andy McNab

Paperback, 1993

Status

Available

Call number

DS79.74.M36 1993

Genres

Publication

New York : Island Books/Dell Publ., 1994, c1993.

Description

History. Military. Nonfiction. Their mission: To take out the scuds. Eight went out. Five came back. Their story had been closed in secrecy. Until now. They were British Special Forces, trained to be the best. In January 1991 a squad of eight men went behind the Iraqi lines on a top secret mission. It was called Bravo Two Zero. On command was Sergeant Andy McNab. "They are the true unsung heroes of the war." � Lt. Col. Steven Turner, American F-15E commander. Dropped into "scud alley" carrying 210-pound packs, McNab and his men found themselves surrounded by Saddam's army. Their radios didn't work. The weather turned cold enough to freeze diesel fuel. And they had been spotted. Their only chance at survival was to fight their way to the Syrian border seventy-five miles to the northwest and swim the Euphrates river to freedom. Eight set out. Five came back. "I'll tell you who destroyed the scuds � it was the British SAS. They were fabulous." � John Major, British Prime Minister. This...… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member armysparkey

Although Mcnabs best book it still has plot holes you could drive a non existant taxi through such a pity our brave lads have to make up stories like this just to sell copy

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LibraryThing member thethinslice

So refreshing to read a story from any perspective other than American! This book is a terrific way inside the most elite special ops group in the world. McNab's perspective is quite interesting. He's a professional career soldier sent on a mission that goes awry. He's captured and tortured, yet

hardly emotionally scarred. Could it have been his mindset? The fact that he was a professional? He seemed to know the game and accept the consequences. I found his telling of the events to be exploding with British wit and understatement. Also very refreshing. If all you know of this conflict or of Special Ops books are from the American 'cowboy' perspective, then you owe it to the rest of the world and the SAS to pick this one up. A lot of credit is due to the Brits! [Then, if you feel like you need an American story again, pick up Into the Mouth of the Cat...The Lance Sijan Story.

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LibraryThing member jayne_charles

Very exciting story of a group of soldiers on a mission that goes badly wrong in the Gulf. All the more scary for being true.

LibraryThing member kings8

Enjoyable and interesting

LibraryThing member kings8

Very enjoyable and intersting

LibraryThing member jimocracy

As a Desert Storm veteran, I appreciated the subject matter of this book and could relate to some of the general military aspects. However, since the author was British SAS, I gained a glimpse into both a foreign military and elite combat units. Although, I did enjoy the story, the narrative was

dragged out unnecessarily.

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LibraryThing member Flip_Martian

Ultimately its the story of a failure - a mission that went wrong immediately and their attempted escape from it. Its well told, its very readable, very descriptive and the dialogue throughout is mainly believable. Sadly however, a quick google will expose this for being a rather embellished

version of the truth. Maybe the publishing company wanted it "sexed up" or something. The descriptions of his interrogation are very visceral and real - but if any person was beaten and kicked for quite so long, and quite so many times, they would surely have been even worse off than he was (as injured as he was). Unless he truly is the hardest man in the universe... No doubt much of it happened - it just seems to have been exaggerated a bit - as was when they were compromised, apparently (the way its told they take out Iraqi after Iraqi before escaping).

So despite being very readable, only 3 stars as its impossible to know now which bits are real and which were made up.

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