Spoken From The Front: Real Voices From the Battlefields of Afghanistan

by Andy McNab (Editor)

The biggest military author introduces real-life voices from the battlefields of Afghanistan.

Spoken from the Front is the story of the Afghan Campaign, told for the first time in the words of the servicemen and women who have been fighting there. With unprecedented access to soldiers of all ranks, as well as pilots, reservists, engineers, medics, Royal Military police, mechanics, cooks and other military personnel, Andy McNab has assembled a portrait of modern conflict like never before.

This is the full experience of British troops on the ground and in the air. The horrors, cruelties, drudgery, excitement and banter of these soldiers' lives combine to form a chronological narrative of all the major events in Helmand during the British Army's time there.

From their action-packed, dramatic, moving and often humorous testimonies in interviews, diaries, letters and emails written to family, friends and loved ones, merges a 360-degree picture of guerrilla warfare up close and extremely personal. It is as close to the real thing as you can get.

Genres: Nonfiction, Military Fiction, War, History, Biography, Ebooks, Autobiography

496 pages, Paperback

First published September 25, 2009

About the author

Andy McNab joined the infantry in 1976 as a boy soldier. In 1984 he was badged as a member of 22 SAS Regiment. He served in B Squadron 22 SAS for ten years and worked on both covert and overt special operations worldwide, including anti-terrorist and anti-drug operations in the Middle and Far East, South and Central America and Northern Ireland.

Trained as a specialist in counter terrorism, prime target elimination, demolitions, weapons and tactics, covert surveillance and information gathering in hostile environments, and VIP protection, McNab worked on cooperative operations with police forces, prison services, anti-drug forces and western backed guerrilla movements as well as on conventional special operations. In Northern Ireland he spent two years working as an undercover operator with 14th Intelligence Group, going on to become an instructor.

McNab also worked as an instructor on the SAS selection and training team and instructed foreign special forces in counter terrorism, hostage rescue and survival training.

Andy McNab has written about his experiences in the SAS in two bestselling books, Bravo Two Zero (1993) and Immediate Action (1995). Bravo Two Zero is the highest selling war book of all time and has sold over 1.7 million copies in the UK. To date it has been published in 17 countries and translated into 16 languages. The CD spoken word version of Bravo Two Zero, narrated by McNab, sold over 60,000 copies and earned a silver disc. The BBC's film of Bravo Two Zero, starring Sean Bean, was shown on primetime BBC 1 television in 1999 and released on DVD in 2000.

Immediate Action, McNab's autobiography, spent 18 weeks at the top of the bestseller lists following the lifting on an ex-parte injunction granted to the Ministry of Defence in September 1995. To date, Immediate Action has now sold over 1.4 million copies in the UK.

McNab is the author of seven fast action thrillers, highly acclaimed for their authenticity and all Sunday Times bestsellers. Published in 1997, Remote Control was hailed as the most authentic thriller ever written and has sold over half a million copies in the UK. McNab's subsequent thrillers, Crisis Four, Firewall, Last Light , Liberation Day , Dark Winter , Deep Black and Aggressor have all gone on to sell equally well. The central character in all the books is Nick Stone, a tough ex-SAS operative working as a 'K' on deniable operations for British Intelligence.

McNab's fiction draws extensively on his experiences and knowledge of Special Forces soldiering. He has been officially registered by Neilsen Bookscan as the bestselling British thriller writer of the last year.

Reviews

[Dipra Lahiri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extraordinary renditions of battle and life in Afghanistan by various members of the British Armed Forces. All the accounts are remarkably restrained, given the grave circumstances. Amongst all serious accounts, the emails of the Officer from the Ministry of Defence are an absolute hoot, the gent should consider a career as a writer. There's even a poet amongst the soldiers.

[HARRY Cullen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed hearing from operatives first hand. This book reinforces the thought, What are we doing in Stan? It is hopeless, the Taliban is aloof and resourceful, we have to follow the 'Rules of Engagement', there is too much collateral damage, we can't continue to build an infrastructure that the locals can't maintain. This is very different from Iraq.

[Mac · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found the soldiers' accounts very interesting but the structure of the book makes it a little tedious and halfway through it all feels quite repetitive. There are better books out there on this same topic.

[Rick B.H. Ghost · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will probably read this book again at a later date, a good account of some of the heroes of Iraq and Afghanistan.

[Peter · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was ok

[This is V! · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book that tells the story how it is .. what the British troops had to endure in Afghanistan .. through their words

[Long Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just love war stories written by the ones who were there and not just by imbedded journalists.

[Paschalis]

elibrary

[Kas · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well collected book of war stories from Afghanistan which was well put together.

[William Reid · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read

[Graham · Rating 3 out of 5]

A strong and compelling read. This is a compilation of various accounts of front-line warfare from the viewpoint of British soldiers fighting in Afghanistan from 2006 to 2008. Andy McNab acts as a general editor, tying up the chronology and supplying regular background information about the war as a whole.

War is hell. That's the overriding message here, and there's an overwhelming sadness from the regularity of the deaths and how unnecessary they all are. At the same time, the core of the soldier's life: the humour, the camaraderie, also comes through. It may be old news, but one of the writers puts it best when he says he's not fighting for Queen and country, he's fighting for the men by his side, he's doing his best for their sake. The old Shakespeare quote about a "band of brothers" couldn't have put it better.

Character is strong but those looking for an insight behind the war should go elsewhere - this is a compilation of front-line accounts, simple narratives showing what it's like to be battling the Taliban, nothing more, nothing less. There's death, injury, poignancy and action here, as well as long interludes of boredom and a few female perspectives too.

My only complaint is with the book's format. By necessity, many of the accounts are short, sometimes single paragraphs, sometimes half a page. There's a lot of stopping and starting as you read, which is a bit off-putting. I'm somebody who likes to get enveloped in a book but I couldn't do that with this, so it took me a while to read.

[Peter McC · Rating 5 out of 5]

Powerful and instructive collection of real life adventures suffered by British service personel serving in Afghanistan. If you believe the politicians that this is a short term war or that the Taliban are not much chop then read this book and learn.

No political spin here just real world tragedy, humour, fear and frustration.

Marvel at the courage and persistence of the soldiers then use your voice to end this mess and save your kids.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good style of writing as it gives various accounts of the war from all branches of the military! McNab acts as a narrator and tires in the accounts with a general overview of what happened at the time of the accounts! I did however find myself skipping the "accounts" of the none armed forces personnel as they where to me a little self indulgent and irritating!

[RC92 · Rating 3 out of 5]

At least I was able to shed some misconceptions I held about modern warfare - just how little visible contact with the enemy actually takes place being one such.

One memorable account tells of being under such a sustained barrage (lasting for the best part of a day) that the teller was unable to even get off a single shot! Madness.

[Lee Garner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought this gave excellent description of life on the front line, covering a whole host of jobs/ranks in the army and sometimes perspective of different ranks of the same incidents. No macho bull, honest thoughts of our brave soldiers. I do think I am a war'd out and I'm on the hunt for a new type of book. Anyone got any recommendations??

[Brendan · Rating 4 out of 5]

following the lives of over twenty servicemen and women. it's was interesting to see how different people react to the same events. it provides a look into the jobs of infantry, medics and pilots. it's a great read and I hope some time in the future Andy McNab does a sequel.

[Paul]

great read interesting to find out first hand what the conditions in afghanistan are like

[David Thrale · Rating 3 out of 5]

A rather disjointed, but authentic insight in to military life, heroism and death - during the ongoing conflict.

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

In a way, this was a little bit dull. But the information was interesting and some of the people telling the stories were very good at it. There was maybe a bit TMI in regards to the details of each mission (McNab's little summaries), so I generally skipped those bits.
Some of the stories I was familiar with due to my reading about apache helicopters (Jugroom), but it was nice to get a couple of different perspectives.
My main complaint would be about the age of the book. I would like to read a sequel or something similar that is more recent.