Portrait of Andy McNab, soldier and author
Reading List
Andy McNab
Soldier and Author
Andy McNab is the pen name of a former British Army soldier who served in the Royal Green Jackets and then the SAS, and who commanded the eight-man patrol sent behind Iraqi lines in the 1991 Gulf War.
Bravo Two Zero (1993), his account of that patrol and of his subsequent capture and interrogation, became one of the best-selling war books ever published in Britain. Immediate Action followed with the story of his earlier career, and Seven Troop with the men he served alongside. He has since written a long series of Nick Stone thrillers, beginning with Remote Control, and books for younger readers.
He works on literacy and on the treatment of veterans, and writes and consults on counter-terrorism and security.
Memoirs of an Infantry Officer
by Siegfried Sassoon
“You’ve got this well-educated man who really doesn’t mind killing Germans but what he doesn’t understand is the reason why he’s killing them. As the war continued he began to realise that it was for political reasons – the military industrial complex. There was too much power play – the Allies couldn’t stop because they need the Germans completely on their knees so everyone got the divvy-up of land and power.” — via Interview, May 2010
A Million Bullets
The Real Story of the British Army in Afghanistan
by James Fergusson
“Why? Because that’s as far as the media were allowed to go into Afghanistan. And ITN covered it, but at exactly the same time the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers was up at Now Zad where the media weren’t allowed and they fought the biggest trench engagement with bayonets since the First World War! But because the media couldn’t go there the media coverage was all about the paras in Sangin and nobody knew about Now Zad.” — via Interview, May 2010
Crusades
by Terry Jones & Alan Ereira
“I watched that Terry Jones documentary about the crusades ages ago and it was quite funny. You’ve got old Pope Urban in the 11th century who got up and said: ‘We’ve got to go do it.’ And the spread of Christianity – it was all about business, power. And all of a sudden the crusaders were getting absolution. There was a crusade in the south of France and the Pope said: ‘Just kill them all. God will sort it out in Heaven.’” — via Interview, May 2010
My Friend the Mercenary
by James Brabazon
“But ‘mercenary’ is a good word for a book title. Really, it’s all about money. The planned coup was business. Mark Thatcher thought he was buying…what? An air ambulance? What a load of rubbish. Mann would have done a deal to finance the coup – and the money men supporting him would get something out of it, like rights to some mineral mines or first refusal for a power station.” — via Interview, May 2010