Customer Reviews

Ground Truth: 3 Para Return to Afghanistan

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Bishops earlier book, 3 Parawas a real tour de force of writing about the Afghanistan conflict. In April 2006 the elite 3 Para Battle Group was despatched to Helmand Province, Afghanistan. All that summer the Paras were subjected to relentless Taliban attacks in one of the most gruelling campaigns fought by British troops in modern times. Bishop had some tremendous source material to work with - the Taliban at the time were taking on the British army head on. The British forces, with far too few ground troops, were forced to try and hold locations around the province - and dozens of Rourke's Drift-style last stands taking place as the brave soldiers tried to hold off the Taliban hordes.

In 3 Para: Ground Truth, two years later the Paras are back in the heat of the Afghanistan front line. The conflict has changed. The enemy has been forced to adopt new weaponry and tactics. But how much progress are we really making in the war against the insurgents? And is there an end in sight? In this account of 3 Para's return, author Patrick Bishop combines first-person accounts of front-line action with an good look at the hard realities of British involvement in Afghanistan. Writing from a position of exclusive access alongside the Paras, he reveals the 'ground truth' of the mission British soldiers have been given. It's a sombre picture, more of an oversight into the Afghanistan conflict in 2008 than a blow by blow account of a series of battles, as in 3 Para, and offers some really interesting thoughts, insights and information about the problems facing those trying to drag the country into the 20th century.
The huge problems caused by the IEDs and the strain on the soldiers this must cause isn't covered in great depth, and it certainly lacks the immediacy of the previous book.

Overall, I wasn't disappointed by the book, but it doesn't have the gripping sense of immediacy of it's predecessor and it certainly isn't a riveting read. Informative, but not riveting pretty much sums it up.