I bought this book having heard Tim Collins lecture on leadership and strategy. Since he is impressive in person, I had high expectations and I was not disappointed. This is an excellent book both in its content and its style.
Tim Collins is a natural writer. Throughout the book you can actually hear his own voice coming through. This may sound easy, but it is something with which many writers struggle. Though he is describing what are at times quite horrific situations, he never loses his sense of proportion nor, more importantly, his sense of humour.
This is clearly a man who belives in the essential humanity of mankind, and it is all the more impressive that he has managed to preserve this belief through all the horrors of war, kidnapping and betrayal that he depicts. For me by far the most shocking aspect of the book was the way in which a loyal and diligent officer was simply hung out to dry by the British army. Hopefully this will make embarrassing reading for many in authority. For the army and the Blair government, it seems to have been a familiar story of accepting without question anything which the Americans say. The tabloid press, who also emerge very badly from the episode, do not even have that excuse.
I would urge anybody with any interest at all in history, current affairs, the Middle East, or army life to buy this book; they will not be disappointed. Finally, I must compliment the author on the wry and whimsical photo captions. They reminded me very much of AJP Taylor in his book on the First World War.
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