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A Million Bullets: The Real Story of the War in Afghanistan
 
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A Million Bullets: The Real Story of the War in Afghanistan (Hardcover)

by James Fergusson (Author)
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 368 pages
  • Publisher: Bantam Press (2 Jun 2008)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0593059026
  • ISBN-13: 978-0593059029
  • Product Dimensions: 23.2 x 15.4 x 3.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 29,550 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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    #10 in  Books > History > Countries & Regions > Asia > Central Asia > Afghanistan

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Product Description

Douglas Hurd

His account cannot be ignored by anyone seriously interested in the future of the British armed forces.


Peter Bergen, author of Holy War, Inc. and The Osama bin Laden I Know

A riveting, blistering, deeply reported narrative of the recent British military interventions in Afghanistan.
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Customer Reviews

7 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.4 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Muddling Through, 19 Jul 2008
By Charles Vasey (London, England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)      
James Fergusson has set out to cover a number of tangential matters than combine to point out the lack of a coherence and reality to NATO policy in Afghanistan, especially as this is applied by the British Army.

He tends to travel in the backwaters. Instead of the much rated 3 Para he visits the Gurkhas and Royal Fusiliers from the 3 Para Battlegroup shut away in some unsupported location getting shot at by the Taleban and unable to perform their mission of reconstruction.

He examines the practical difficulties of a small force of military professionals trying to bring peace to an area by bringing war. The difficulties of persuading the locals that the corrupt and brutal police and Afghan Army are to be supported are laid out; as is the difficulty of making the police and army anything but corrupt when they are underpaid and undertrained. It's a real muddle.

By comparing the units supporting two helicopter types (Chinooks and Apaches) Fergusson can make valuable points about the under-funding of the effort and (perhaps more important) the underinvestment in keeping skilled personnel. Just having the best kit is no answer when service
personnel are condemned to long tours and divorces. But looking at the armour kit used by the cavalry one can see that in some cases it is not only old but designed for different operational conditions (mostly the North German Plain).

Fergusson travels to meet and talk to the Taliban, he clearly respects them and feels they need to be part of the solution. This has been the view of a number of British officials but is apparently not acceptable in the eyes of the more manichean Americans.

Although at times Fergusson seems rather innocent it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that he is on to something. There is only one thing worse than fighting a war with allies; and that is fighting one without any.
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20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The Scary Truth, 13 Jun 2008
By SEG (London) - See all my reviews
Gripping book which gives an accurate and disturbing insight into what our soldiers(the Gurkhas, the Fusiliers, the Royal Irish, the Household Cavalry and the RAF), are faced with in Afghanistan. Its disturbing to see just how under funded and under prepared our troops are when posted to such a hostile environment. Together with the lack of collaberation between all allies involed this book really does paint a picture that this is a war with no easy fix and a war that we could very well lose if we continue in the same vain.
Brilliant book and am looking forward to reading 3 Para for the Paras perspective of it all.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Courageous, stimulating, 29 Dec 2008
By P. A. KRIJGSMAN (Somerset, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This book is courageous in more ways than one. First and foremost, the author has exposed himself to danger in researching his story, which is something that deserves the reader's respect. Second, he hasn't made black and white judgements on either side of the conflict. This might upset the Daily Mail (especially JF's effort to understand the motives of the Taliban), but at heart it is an intelligent approach that assumes the reader can make his/her own mind up (or try to). It is a rare example of honest and old-fashioned rapportage that does not offer prescriptions but informs the prescriptive process. Like many of us, JF has huge sympathy for the professional soldier and somewhat less for the motives and actions of the politicians who deploy him (and, increasingly, her). The accounts of military action and technology in difficult terrain are as gripping as any adventure story, although like the war itself there is no satisfying conclusion, only a disturbing sense that mistakes have been made in the name of western nations. I am no military historian, but I find nothing especially surprising in the notion of soldiers doing their best but repeatedly tripping over the bootlaces of organisational challenges, inadequate supplies and other shortcomings. These and other themes were covered brilliantly in Dixon's "Psycholoigy of Military Incompetence". However Fergusson updates them in a contemporaneous context, which soldiers and politicians alike should find an instructive addition to Dixon's work.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars A Million Bullets by James Ferguson
A Million Bullets: The Real Story of the War in Afghanistan
A thought provoking and intelligent analysis. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Breusac

5.0 out of 5 stars Investigative writing at its best
I don't know much about the politics of war but having read this book I feel that I now have a pretty good inkling of what goes on - and it's not comforting. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Nadezhda Joseph

4.0 out of 5 stars Insightful
James Ferguson examines the experiences of a variety of Units from within the UK Armed Forces taking part in the military campaign in Afghanistan, making extensive use of first... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Mr. H. F. Murden

3.0 out of 5 stars Biased and opinionated
This book doesn't do what it says on the cover. "The Real Story of the war in Afghanistan" its says on the cover. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Douglas Newell

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