- Paperback: 416 pages
- Publisher: Mainstream Publishing; New edition edition (5 April 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1845962729
- ISBN-13: 978-1845962722
- Product Dimensions: 23.2 x 15.4 x 3.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
644,186 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #87 in Books > History > Britain & Ireland > Falklands War
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
The average age of the 200 men on board HMS Ardent was 23 in May 1982 when she made a lonely midnight run into Falkland Sound, an hour ahead of the British amphibious group about to retake the Islands. In the crucial hours that followed, her naval gunfire support kept enemy troops and aircraft pinned down at Goose Green and Darwin. Despite a few scares, it all looked good. Until 5.44 p.m. At that precise moment, out of the gathering dusk, Ardent came under the most concentrated attack of any ship taking part in the landings. She was hit 17 times in 22 minutes and lost a greater proportion of her men than any other fighting unit in the entire war. So why has the British public forgotten her name? "Through Fire and Water" tells the frigate's story from Christmas 1981 in Amsterdam to her sinking in Falkland Sound - and beyond. It explains what it was like for British sailors in the Falklands and how it felt for those waiting at home for news. It reflects the feeling of despair of those on board as they tried to save their ship and their mates as bomb after bomb came crashing down. In a war so well documented, "Through Fire and Water" is the first book to tell the dramatic true story of the forgotten frigate. Now, 25 years later, it is time to remember the heroic actions of the men on board HMS Ardent.
About the Author
Mark Higgitt is a forty-eight-year-old journalist who lives in South Warwickshire with his wife. They have two daughters.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I may be biased but this is a great book. Why biased? Well I'm the 23 year old Weapons Director "Richie Gough" in the book. It's a true story, well researched and written by the author Mark Higgitt.
This is the story of young men serving their country on a ship that was both happy and professional, that fought hard and valiantly to protect the troops landing onto the Falklands on the 21 May 1982 before, in the space of 22 minutes, being hit by bombs from Argentine aircraft no less than 17 times and therfore having to be abandoned to later sink in Falkland Sound. Focussing on the people that made the ship work and not the politics of the Falklands conflict the story telling is fast, informative and real. 22 lives were lost, many more of the crew were wounded both physically and emotionally. Real people from all walks of life averaging no more than 23 years old at the time of the conflict. Today, most of the crew are civilians but each year we gather in Plymouth to remember the fallen and celebrate the ship. But each year the memories of our brief encounter with the enemy keep our tales of bravery, foolhardiness and high sprits firmly to the fore. I recommend this book to Amazon readers as it is a true account of a brave ship, forgotten by the British public because of the short term memory that comes with modem media coverage. Add to this the short sightedness of the military enquiry board of the time and the name Ardent becomes only a proud memory for its survivors, friends and the families of the fallen. Read the book - you will be proud of the ship and its crew too, I promise.
Richie Gough
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book is a moving account of the exploits of HMS Ardent during the Falklands War of 1982. Written mainly from the points of view of the ordinary crew-members, it graphically illustrates how they were affected by the loss of their ship and their friends.
As someone who was familiar with the ship and knew some of those who died, I read this book with great anticipation and was not disappointed. If you ever wanted to find out how ordinary people deal with life-threatening situations and with the aftermath, then this book is a good place to start.
There are a few minor technical inaccuracies, but they do not detract from the narrative. My one main criticism is that there is no diagram of the ship's layout. Anyone unfamiliar with the Type 21 frigate would struggle to orientate themselves - then again, maybe that was the author's intent - to put the reader in the same position as the crew as they fought fires in compartments turned to scrap by Argentinian bombs.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
One of the reviewers of the hard cover edition of this book slates it for 'excruciating detail' and being 'unreadable'. I couldn't disagree more. This is a must-read, and I would go so far as to say that if you were to read just one book to give you an idea what going to war in the Falklands was like for our sailors, this is the one.
All too often books on war gloss over the day to day detail of warfighting, skip the build-up, concentrate on a few people to tell the whole story. Real life isn't like that - there is lots of detail, there are lots of people. A Royal Navy warship doesn't carry 200 people for the fun of it; they all have jobs, they are all necessary, and for once here is a book that tries to tell the story of a great number of them.
As a result we have a good meaty book that will provide many days of reading, rewards re-reading and gives you a real feeling for the sheer horror of what that crew went through. There are pages to make you laugh out loud, others to bring you to the brink of tears and others to make you angry - angry at the government that procured a type of ship so poorly defended, angry at the government that allowed the war to happen, and angry that so many young men did not return.
Richie Gough's review ends by saying that this book will make you proud of the ship and her crew. He is right. I am.
Notably one of the complaints about the hardcover edition - the lack of any drawing showing the ship's layout - has been dealt with by the addition of such a diagram. It is, however, at the back of the book!
All too often books on war gloss over the day to day detail of warfighting, skip the build-up, concentrate on a few people to tell the whole story. Real life isn't like that - there is lots of detail, there are lots of people. A Royal Navy warship doesn't carry 200 people for the fun of it; they all have jobs, they are all necessary, and for once here is a book that tries to tell the story of a great number of them.
As a result we have a good meaty book that will provide many days of reading, rewards re-reading and gives you a real feeling for the sheer horror of what that crew went through. There are pages to make you laugh out loud, others to bring you to the brink of tears and others to make you angry - angry at the government that procured a type of ship so poorly defended, angry at the government that allowed the war to happen, and angry that so many young men did not return.
Richie Gough's review ends by saying that this book will make you proud of the ship and her crew. He is right. I am.
Notably one of the complaints about the hardcover edition - the lack of any drawing showing the ship's layout - has been dealt with by the addition of such a diagram. It is, however, at the back of the book!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A tremendous read!
As a real enthusiast of Maritime History I was very keen to read this book and I was not disappointed. Read more
Published 21 days ago by Canary Steve
A naval soap opera
This book was very disappointing. It is certainly not a book centered in the Falklands'war. It is abook about people (the crew) and their daily life aboard a ship which happened to... Read more
Published 17 months ago by F DEL POZO BERENGUER
Too much detail!
I get a sense that the author felt a duty to this brave crew to shoe-horn in a mention of every one of them into this book. Read more
Published on 15 Jan 2010 by Ryan Coe
An excellent and well-researched read
There really is no substitute when writing a book like this for talking to the people who were there, and for this book that's exactly what the author has done. Read more
Published on 6 Jun 2009 by Andy P
Excruciating detail makes this almost unreadable
I was looking forward to reading “Through Fire and Water” because it covers an aspect of the Battle for the Falklands that I previously knew very little about: the... Read more
Published on 12 Mar 2006 by Carl R. Mousley
Memories came flooding back
As the ex-wife of one of the main characters in the book, I found it a very honest account of those terrible days. It bought the emotions of those dark days flooding back. Read more
Published on 31 July 2001 by susan.goldfinch@insolvency.gsi.gov.uk
A compassionate account of those forgotten Falklands men.
This is a fine book in so many ways. The author was clearly not aiming for the arid approach of the military historian; his writing is about the life and death issues that faced... Read more
Published on 17 Feb 2001
A warship crew in action: their individual perspectives
An excellent effort to cover an emotional, personal and difficult subject for all those involved. With a short build-up to put the crew and ship in perspective, Mr Higgitt moves... Read more
Published on 31 Dec 2000
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