Bravo Two Zero: The Harrowing True Story of a Special Forces Patrol Behind the Lines in Iraq [Mass Market Paperback]

Andy McNab (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

" 'A gripping account of special forces at work...a tremendous adventure story' DUFF HART-DAVIS, Daily Telegraph. 'Superhuman endurance, horrendous torture, desperate odds - unparalleled revelations' Daily Mail. 'One of the most extraordinary examples of human courage and survival in modern warfare' The Times. 'The best account yet of the SAS in action' JAMES ADAMS, Sunday Times" --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Description

The harrowing 1991 mission of eight men from the British Special Forces is revealed by their leader, as he relates their venture behind Iraqi lines, the deaths of three of their team, and the capture and torture of another four. Reprint.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Island Books; Reprint edition (August 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440218802
• ISBN-13: 978-0440218807
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (160 customer reviews)
• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #441,281 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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  Books > History > Military > United States > Operation Desert Storm

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is why the SAS are the best in the business., October 26, 2000

By	"bulldog51" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bravo Two Zero: The Harrowing True Story of a Special Forces Patrol Behind the Lines in Iraq (Mass Market Paperback)

This book is the true story of operation gone horribly wrong during the Gulf War. An eight-man team of the elite British Special Air Service were dropped by helicopter into the desert of western Iraq, each carrying well over 200 lbs. of equipment. Their mission was to watch a road for military traffic and hunt for mobile Iraqi SCUD missile launchers. They were soon discovered by a local shepherd boy. The local Iraqi militia were called out, and the poop hit the fan.

Their radios didn't work, and so they had no way to call for an extraction. They decided to trek 100 miles west to the Syrian border. But one man had injured his leg during the evasion of the Iraqi forces. Another had been wearing his thermal underwear since the compromise, and so had sweating profusely the entire time and was now dangerously dehydrated. How any managed to survive is a true testament to the power of the human will, and to the rigorous standards to which the SAS trains its men.

The overall book is excellent. McNab has put together one of the most readable military stories I've ever come across. It's a cliche, but this book is a real page-turner. There's military jargon galore, but he usually explains it for the layman reader. A glossary at the back helps with that, and with some of the British army slang, but the regular British stuff you have to figure out by context.

It's the little things McNab adds that make this book so readable and "enjoyable," (if you can use that word about a book in which a man describes himself and his friends being tortured, and some dying gruesome deaths.) To a military professional, the tactics and gear of the SAS are an interesting part of the book. [To my grunt bubbas, make sure to check out the pictures of the packs and gear they carried.] But even the average person can find things to identify with in the book: The joking between the members of the patrol, even after they've been discovered; The story about the old Iraqi farmer who they run into while escaping. There are others, but I won't spoil the entire book for you.

This is one of the most no-holds-barred looks at warfare I've ever read. The only book I can compare it to, for realism and readability purposes, is "Nam" by Mark Baker. If you enjoy military books, or true stories of adventure and survival against all odds, you'll like this book.

BTW, if you already read this book, McNab's account of his life before the Gulf War, "Immediate Action," would be well worth your time also. I've also heard the BBC (or some British TV station) did an excellent movie version of this story, starring Sean Bean ("Sharpe" movies, "GoldenEye,") as McNab. I haven't seen it, but that'd probably be worth checking out, too.

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars New meaning to the English adage of the "stiff upper lip", December 26, 2000

By	Christopher Griffen "Commitment to mediocrity!" (Pleasanton, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Bravo Two Zero: The Harrowing True Story of a Special Forces Patrol Behind the Lines in Iraq (Mass Market Paperback)

What an amazing story. Bravo Two Zero tells the tale of a squad of British SAS soldiers on a mission in Iraq during the Gulf War to take out mobile Scud launchers. When I started reading the book, I expected to read about the detailed accounts of how the launchers were wiped out and how Sgt. Andy McNab's team contributed to this effort. I was shocked as a chain of unfortunate events ruined the mission and put McNab's team in great peril. Several of them died and some were captured by Iraqi troops.

Bravo Two Zero is not for the faint of heart. The detailed account of McNab's torture and brutal beatings at the hand of the Iraqis is tough reading. I'm in awe of the fortitude and subtle defiance that he and his men exhibited in the face of such terrible cruelty.

But don't mistake this book for a "prison journal." It's anything but. McNab goes into great detail about how the Scud hunting missions and special forces missions in general are planned and executed. You begin to realize that even the best-laid plans can be subject to failure if minute details are overlooked. As McNab points out however, in a speech he recalls from his regimental commander, the true mettle of a soldier is measured not only by his successes, but by how he performs when all hell has broken loose and the mission seems to be a total failure.

Bravo Two Zero is not only an amazing real-life adventure story, but also a testament to the endurance, determination and courage of the British SAS troops who took part in the Gulf War, playing a crucial role in the defeat of Sadaam Hussein.

52 of 62 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't be misled..., July 27, 2004

By	Maxwell - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bravo Two Zero: The Harrowing True Story of a Special Forces Patrol Behind the Lines in Iraq (Mass Market Paperback)

Andy McNab has become a bestselling fiction author in the UK. But his first book, Bravo Two Zero, was supposed to be the nonfiction true story of the ill fated mission behind Iraqi lines that he commanded during the Gulf War. But the truth is that McNab was writing fiction from the very beginning! It has been proven that McNab exaggerated and blatantly lied about what happened during the mission. Those looking for a true account of a Special Forces mission should look elsewhere. All McNab does is tell fairytales to turn himself into a pop culture war hero. So many credible sources (including other surviving members of the BTZ patrol) have given reliable testimony that McNab's version of events was false that I find it hard to believe that he has not become a laughing stock to the general public (supposedly he is now regarded with "contempt and ridicule" within the SAS itself).

Basically, McNab took a real event that he was involved in and turned it into a pop culture Rambo fantasy of what an SAS mission is like. His lies and misrepresentations are so numerous that its embarassing. The squad's mission was NOT to hunt down and attack mobile SCUD launchers and destroy an all-important fibre optic communications line. Their mission was to man an observation post and report any significant activity on an Iraqi Main Supply Route. As for the SCUDs, they were to report any sightings of the mobile launchers so that those targets could be marked for airstrikes (not to attack the launchers themselves). This stuff may not sound as action-esque and sexy as the mission McNab describes, but it makes a lot more sense, and it is the way a small spec ops patrol alone behind enemy lines would really operate.

The patrol did NOT charge into an entire platoon of Iraqis, driving off or killing all of them and blowing up their Armored Personnel Carriers. When they were discovered by enemy forces, they actually did the smart thing and immediately broke contact and ran away into the desert, going into "escape and evasion" mode. Although they did return some fire to cover their retreat, they certainly did not kill any significant number of enemy troops let alone blow up any APCs.

Later, after the remaining members of McNab's group hijacked a taxicab in order to drive across the border to Syria, they did not assault a vehicle checkpoint and lay massive damage on the enemy troops garrisoned there. Again, they actually did the smart thing by getting out of the car before reaching the checkpoint and attempting to bypass the checkpoint covertly on foot. At this point their sole objective was to reach Syria and escape to safety. They were certainly not about to start any unnecessary fights to get themselves killed. McNab claims in his book that according to intel reports, the squad inflicted 250 casualties on the enemy throughout their ordeal. This is complete nonsense, as according to the official statements given to the SAS command during debriefing, there were no more than several confirmed kills mentioned. McNab has never bothered to produce the alleged "intelligence report" to confirm the statements in his book. Fellow surviving members of the mission have even testified in court that McNab lied about some of the more extreme instances of torture he described in his book. According to one of the men who was with him in captivity, instances in mcNab's book where he describes getting his tooth pulled out with pliers and having a burning hot spoon placed on his tongue never happened.

If you are looking for a more credible firsthand account of what happened during the mission, pick up "Soldier Five" by Mike Coburn. Coburn was with McNab during the mission and he gives an honest and rational view on what happened. His version does not support McNab's. He does not sensationalize the mission, nor does he glorify himself or his teammates. He surely doesn't even imply that the patrol had any significant number of confirmed kills, let alone 250. He himself never mentions personally witnessing or inflicting any confirmed kills at all. I'm sure that the team must have inflicted some degree of casualties but there is no way to be certain of the amount, and the fact remains that the actual number of confirmed kills were few. When compared with the reliable facts surrounding the mission, Coburn's account holds up but McNab's falls apart.

What the Bravo Two Zero business shows is that although Special forces soldiers have a very admirable and elite profession, they are not superhuman Rambos capable of taking out armies by themselves. They are only human. And just like in any group of humans, you will find dirtbags and opportunists among them. Andy McNab is one such opportunist. With his shamelessness, he has deceived the public and distorted the true nature of Special operations and modern warfare. He wanted fame and fortune. In order to get it he gave the public just the type of fantastic hero story they wanted to believe, rather than giving them a true insight into his real experiences that they could learn from. He and those like him are a disgrace to their proud profession. Don't buy his books, and don't let yourself be misled.