The ill-fated Brave Two Zero mission of the Gulf War has become one of the most notorious episodes in military history. Several accounts of the story have already appeared in books, films and articles, but in this book the author now seeks to set the record straight and honour the memory of his three comrades who were killed.
| |||||||||||||||
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Mike Coburn was born in New Zealand and spent ten years in the Special Forces of both the New Zealand and British Special Air Service. After a number of years based in the UK, he now works as an international consultant in the security industry. He is married with three children
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
More of the same...,
By
This review is from: Soldier Five: The Real Truth about the Bravo Two Zero Mission (Paperback)
Mark Coburns account of what happened on that fateful mission is not such a bad story on its own, but if you have read the other books and are familiar with the basic story then you will find it tedious and not as "revealing" as it claims to be. He basically tells the story from his point of view and apart from a few interesting contrasts with McNabs and Ryans books, it doesnt really give the reader more insight into what really happened. It could however be that the actual events were not really as dramatic and "awe-inspiring" as the other members of the patrol made it out to be. We will never know. Either way, more little details about the mission are told and if you are super-interested in the saga then read it. Having said that, i reconmend reading the other books to familiarise yourself because Coburn sometimes assumes the reader has read the other books.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A thoughtful account of a terrible time,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Soldier Five: The Real Truth about the Bravo Two Zero Mission (Paperback)
Soldier Five recounts the events of the infamous Bravo-Two-Zero mission that went so awry during the First Gulf War, and is also the personal story of how a young Kiwi (New Zealander) came to serve in 22 SAS, via the NZSAS. The author comes over as a very pleasant personality, full of youthful enthusiasm and ideals - and he's not afraid to poke gentle fun at himself from time to time as he looks back from an authorial position of greater experience.
The story is told more or less in chronological order, in a first-person action-man narrative. But unlike other books about the same events, Coburn is more focused on cock-ups (errors) than heroics. The litany of failures that led to three members of the patrol dying and four being captured is truly extraordinary and it is a testament to the skill of the author that the reader feels strongly the sense of astonishment, confusion, and frustration that mounts with each additional problem the soldiers had to face, effectively marooned hundreds of kilometres behind enemy lines. This chronological approach makes the last third of the book more powerful, as we learn that Bravo-Two-Zero was placed into the theater of combat for no real purpose and that it was subsequently abandoned to its fate by an OC (officer commanding) who "would have sacrificed half a squadron to get a Scud." As Ken Connor, another ex-Regiment man, commented in his book Ghost Force, special forces had no business being deployed merely to chase around in the desert in the hope of finding one or two mobile Scud launchers. No matter how you dress it up, that's not a strategic mission. When one considers how much time, effort and money is spent on training members of the Regiment, it is very disappointing for the Rupert (officer) to have been so laissez-faire about the fate of his men. Like Coburn, by the end of the book we feel disgusted by the attitude of those in command and this disgust is then compounded by the long drawn-out saga of how the UK Ministry of Defence tried to suppress the publication of Soldier Five even though by that time Andy McNab's account and Chris Ryan's account plus a movie were already in circulation. I came away feeling fortunate that Coburn's determination to get his book published was eventually successful, and that anyone who wants to can pick up this book and get more of a picture regarding the patrol and, by extension, some of the larger issues surrounding the use of the Regiment and the attitudes of those high up in the military command structure. It's something of a shame to consider that nearly eighty years on the words spawned by World War One should still seem to have some force: "lions led by donkeys."
2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
I need answers to inconsistencies here between this book & the others baffle me,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Soldier Five: The Real Truth about the Bravo Two Zero Mission (Paperback)
Whilst I will take nothing away from the amazing courage and feat that all of the men showed including Mike himself and especially I would take nothing away from those who didn't make it back because they were quite simply abandoned by their own country (and the UK government should be utterly ashamed), I do find some of things in this book rather baffling. Firstly both Andy and Chris call Mike, Mark throughout both of their books, they also refer to Mal as Stan. As a result I wasn't at first quite sure who Mal was and then when I cross referenced back across them all I reached the conclusion that I am not quite sure how Mal (who also writes his comments in the beginning of this book) can be such an expert about areas of the patrol he was not even with at the time. Clearly he is a personal friend of Mike as well and that also makes me wonder. I also want to know how Mike can write about the conversations of what happened back at HQ and the decisions made when they were actually on the mission - did these writings come out at the trials when the MOD/UK Government were trying to stop the book from being published?. If they did then there is no mention of it anywhere in the book credits that this is where the information has come from. If it didn't then where did this information and words appear?. I want to know how he is able to use and quote from it when the other writers did not and I would actually really want to read all of the actual MOD conversations recorded at the time if they are now in the public domain. All of those comments aside this was a book I did read in one sitting and it is a good book and an interesting account of the story and the writers life prior to the mission. Getting it published was quite simply amazing and well done to him for fighting and beating the government and exposing what they wanted kept from public eyes. I have never seen any of the films and frankly I wouldn't want to especially after the pasting that they receive within these pages, they must have been truly awful and embarrassing for all concerned and especially the families of the deceased. Again the film makers should be very ashamed. The publishers also should be gently rebuked for not reviewing their books more carefully. They mention wanting to give credit to photos used and not knowing who to give the credit to - when apart from 1 photo which is credited, there ARE no photos in this book. If I can have those answers from anyone I would be most grateful because knowing those answers would make a huge difference to my interpretation and understanding. Is there anyone out there who will (and is able to truthfully) answer these questions please? Thanks in anticipation.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Inside This Book
(learn more)
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
