Hello... If anyone could give me some input concerning the following books on the SAS and SBS, I would appreciate it. (Is it worth buying? Why or why not?) Thanks!
The Real SAS: How It Works and What It Is Like to Be in It
by Adrian Weale
The Joker: 20 Years Inside the SAS: 20 Years Inside the Sas
by Pete Scholey
Black Water: by Strength and by Guile: My Secret Life in the Special Boat Section
by Don Camsell
First into Action: A Dramatic Personal Account of Life in the SBS
by Duncan Falconer
C.Q.B.: The Explosive True Story of 15 Years Under Fire by
Mike Curtis
SAS: the Soldiers' Story by Jack Ramsay
Heroes of the SAS: True Stories of the British Army's Elite Special Forces Regiment by Barry, BEM Davies
Eye of the Storm by Peter Radcliffe
and, Ghost Force: The Secret History of the SAS by Ken Connor
The Real SAS: How It Works and What It Is Like to Be in It
by Adrian Weale- not bad, a useful mass market overview but lacking on the nitty gritty- get Eye of the Storm or Ghost Force instead.
The Joker: 20 Years Inside the SAS: 20 Years Inside the Sas
by Pete Scholey- reasonable read but seriously lacking operational detail. Wouldnt be high on my wishlist.
Black Water: by Strength and by Guile: My Secret Life in the Special Boat Service
by Don Camsell- a good read, recommended. Dont get another SBS tome 'Not by Stength By Guile' by Peter Mercer- it's rubbish.
First into Action: A Dramatic Personal Account of Life in the SBS
by Duncan Falconer- the best SBS account out there- highly recommend- covers MCT and NI- Falconer was one of the first SBS boys attached to 14 Int.
C.Q.B.: The Explosive True Story of 15 Years Under Fire by
Mike Curtis- good read, recommended for Gulf detail
SAS: the Soldiers' Story by Jack Ramsay- good overview- similar to 'The Real SAS'- has good pretty accurate coverage of Nimrod and the Gulf
Heroes of the SAS: True Stories of the British Army's Elite Special Forces Regiment by Barry, BEM Davies- never read it
Eye of the Storm by Peter Radcliffe- highly recommended. A very non glorified account. Excellent views on B20 patrol and much more. Very good.
and, Ghost Force: The Secret History of the SAS by Ken Connor- equally very good. Great operational history of 22
Other UKSF books I'd highly recommend would be 'Big Boys Rules' by Mark Urban (22 in NI) and James Rennie's 'The Operators' (14 Int in NI).
I've only read a few of those listed, most are hard to come across in the US. I have read the the works by Ratcliffe and Camsell and have to agree w/ Chops, both are straight forward and factual. I have read Barry Davies 'Heroes of the SAS' and found it to be alright. It pretty much gives a brief account of about fifty or sixty former SAS soldiers. It covers everything from founding members in WWII to mobile column vets of the Gulf War. I enjoyed it. I'd also recommend 'No Mean Soldier' by Peter McAleese. McAleese served with the SAS in Aden and Borneo, but left the Regiment and went on to work as a mercenary in Angola, South Africa, Rhodesia, and Colombia. He covers all of this in his autobiography. Good read.
Not the newest, but still, Barry Davies's "SAS - the illustrated history" is one of the best photographic books about the SAS. Davies, ex-22 collected for many years rare, amazing photos of the SAS from the african desert to the iraqi desert. A must for the lot of us...
Soldier I. You may have some difficulty getting your hands on this book as it was written before some people on this board were probably even born furthermore as it made no attempt to hide the identies of those mentioned it caused a certain amount of consternation within the MoD and was withdrawn from sale at one stage. Still as possibly the first firsthand account of life within 22SAS with particular emphasis on the 1970's this book remains an interesting read.
SAS Phantoms Of The Jungle. Written by Prof Peter Horner this book is best left for those who have grown tired of reading these overly melodramatic guts and glory military books and who instead wish to read a book that is properly researched and written by a real military historian then this account of the SASR might be up your alley. It makes no attempt to discuss operations that the SASR were rumoured to have been involved with but rather documents the official account of the history of the regiment up to 1999, so naturally that precludes ongoing ops in East Timor as well as Afghanistan and Iraq.
I know what book your talking about Silverado, but isn't it called Phantoms of War by David Horner. My copy is. Your right though, it is a very informative book.
Yes agreed on Soldier I. Interesting story of the guy suffering from PTSD too- an overlooked element of highly intensive operations.
Phantoms of the Jungle is an awesome book. They have recently, September last year I think, come out with an updated version called SAS: Phantoms of War which covers Timor and expands the CT coverage (ie Sydney Olympics). Well worth picking it up. There are a few other SASR titles worth chasing down- I can give details if anyone's interested.
IMO, The Shooting Gallery rates as high as Eye of the Storm.
I agree with what Chops had written re. the other books you mentioned.
Re. Heroes of the SAS – as above, it’s also a good read – my only gripe is that it’s too thin, only 252 pages long.
If you can get hold of these books, they’re also worth your buck:
Secret Soldier by Col. Muki Betser – the author was 2ic during the Entebbe op, also details actions by Sayeret Matkal during the ‘70s & ‘80s.
Sleeping with Your Ears Open by Gary McKay – probably the author’s best book (he has written other books re Aussie Diggers in Vietnam). The intricacies of Australian SAS patrols in Vietnam is described in detail. If you want the nitty gritty of patrolling in the jungle, this is the book to read.
Behind Enemy Lines by Terry O’Farrell – another Aussie SAS book on the Vietnam war. Covers the authors personal account on the intense selection process to becoming RSM – the author is still serving with the SASR.
Killing Zone by Harry McCallion – very similar to 'No Mean Soldier' by Peter McAleese. The author served with the Paras, SAS, South African Recces, and the RUC. A fascinating account was the attempted assassination of Robert Mugabe.
Fishers of Men by Rob Lewis – a personal account of ops with the FRU.
Pamwe Chete by LtCol RF Reid-Daly – written by the founder of the Rhodesian Sealous Scouts, very detailed, plenty of illustrations/photos, nearly 600 pages long – as big as SAS: Phantoms of War.
Just get an amazon account. Even without buying something you can still browse through all those books. And read the customer reports.
Concerning SAS: Just go to http://www.amazon.co.uk !!!
The British are just suckers for anything that has to do with SAS (Now that the Empire is gone they have nothing else left I guess).
There is even an SAS fitness-book. (What next "The SAS Cooking Book - Are You Tuff Enuff For This?" or something? Could be...).
There are of course other books... and DVDs... and more !
Basically terrorists kill the crew of a high-speed (not Delta) merchant ship and the President refuses to act on it, so Congress looks for ways around the Prez to act.
SAS Book recommendations
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