SAS - Ghost Patrol - Damien Lewis

 

When a book grabs you within the first 20 pages and you cannot put it down you know your onto a winner.

In SAS Ghost Patrol the author Damien Lewis guides the reader through a breath taking, daring do, true story adventure of bravery, ingenuity, courage, and tragedy.

This is the story of Captain Herbert Cecil Brook M.C and his ultra-secret deception force.  They are to attempt one of the most audacious top-secret raids of 2 World War.  The force was to drive 100s miles without support to bluff their way into Nazi stronghold.  This raid was a desperate attempt to change the tide of axis victories in the desert.

This is a story of mavericks, of brave men on a suicidal mission, of deceit and the stuff that legends are made off.

In Damien Lewis writing you do not get time to breath.   The fast-paced action and the constant urge to know what happens next keeps the pages turning. The research is masterful drawing you into each soldier’s story.  There are twists and turns but what strikes you throughout the book is the courage and resourcefulness of these men.  Of what they needed to do to complete the mission.

Did I like this book?   YES

Did I love this book?  Absolutely

This book takes me away from being the adult and reminds me of the books I read growing up.  The excitement and the journey, the pure joy of reading an adventure story but a very true adventure story.   In fact, you could not make it up because actually its too far fetched that what makes this book special.  It is written to be read not to be studied and that is a huge compliment to the writer.

This is a masterpiece of a book and makes you want to reach for the next Damien Lewis title to see if its as good.  

A absolute pleasure and brilliant must read book.







Location: Doncaster, UK

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Needing to understand why I study conflict and war

Image
  I have had a problem. I have struggled for a while to read or review any books. The war and atrocities in Ukraine have really had me asking questions of myself and why I have this interest in all things related to conflict. I have had to understand why I do what I do, why I read these books, why I undertake the research I do and what all that means. Its taken time for me to understand what it is. The conclusion I have come to and finally squared it away in my mind is that yes, I study war and conflict, but I do not celebrate them. War is bad on all levels from the loss and destruction it causes to the impact on countries and those that live each day wondering what happens next. I study it because I want to understand the whys and the how’s. I want to understand the past so I can understand the now and the future. War is driven by men with egos, men who stop caring about people but only about their ideology. There is so much more to war and conflict than death and destruct...
Read more

Reconstructing and Recording Combat Experiences in First World War and World War 2

Image
  One of the many interesting discussions I have been involved in of late has been about the writing and recording of combat experiences and how reliable or not those accounts are. Some of the first books we all read on the wars is those of soldiers, sailors and airmen and their personal experiences, their involvement in war, what they saw and felt.   We get drawn in by the excitement, heroism, action, and outcomes. A lot of time we have read these in isolation without being able to share with others that have our interest and without understanding the wider context. In some ways that comes with age and experience. Social Media has enabled people from all over the world to come together and discuss all aspects of war and the question of “Reconstructing and Recording combat experiences in World War 1 and Second World War” keeps coming to the fore. As we understand more, we start to question the evidence in front of us. We start to understand how these accounts are written a...
Read more

Hay-on-Wye - A book lovers hell.

Image
  Hay-on-Wye - A books lovers hell (in the nicest possible way) Where to start.  I had an opportunity to visit Hay-on-Wye, the home of books.  For those that do not know Hay, it is a small town in Wales but right on the border with England.   In the 1960s it established itself as the UKs book capital and holds a famous annual book festival.   The town has over 20 book shops and various other places you can buy books.  You can literally buy books on any and every subject there is. That’s where the problem starts. As an avid reader, and yes, I read books on a wide range of subjects apart from military history, this trip was going to be a treat, a proper day of browsing, thinking, and wandering.  The mistake I made was not sticking to the plan I set for myself. I knew I was in trouble immediately I stepped into the first shop.   I counted 17 shelves of books on 2 World War and add the 15 shelves on 1 World War and you can see where ...
Read more