Op. Certain Death - Damien Lewis

There are 2 routes that can be taken with military history, particularly recent military history; either it's a cold and dry rehashing of the facts without the perspective of being there at the time or it can be all of the latter with little of the former, in which case it often becomes little more than sensational with a side order of rampant fiction. This book combines both but not as skillfully as others, perhaps. Certainly there's a deal of sensation in it.

But this is more a mark of the subject and how it's told rather than a criminal lack of information. Special Operations are, by their very nature, not reported on beyond rather dry after-action reports for only purely military circles - certainly not for a good few years at any rate. We know much of SAS operations in the Libyan and Iraqi deserts or in the Falklands thanks to the passing of time but very little (reasonably and sensibly) about things that occured only scant years ago. In providing a such a pacy account as this (as close to a Clancy or Cussler novel as he could reasonably get), Lewis has drafted an interesting study of human nature as well as straight soldiering - the prolonged effects of being a hostage contrasted with the resolutely upbeat tone of their would-be rescuers makes for interesting reading.

The book deals with the capture and subsequent rescue of a patrol from the Royal Irish in Sierra Leone. A place where the usual rules have been thrown out of the window and where the UN have signally failed to achieve much of consequence save a portion of their peackeepers apparently selling arms to the rebel insurgents. That these were then used to fire on British troops gives plenty of evidence as to whose sympathies this book is playing to although there are also more reflective periods - the proposed usage of mercenaries (or Private Military Companies to use the correct term) to provide the UN some teeth instead of the marginally effective 'Blue Helmets' that are deployed at present. Marginal because they are usually subject to the whim of their home nation and by simple understanding and common practice are never the best soldiers that said nation can put into the field - they'd much rather keep ahold of those. Mercs are usually of a high quality and whilst they have a price tag to match the cost of them instead of the cost of a bad operatrion and then rescuing it seems almost cheap by comparison.
In this account at least, mercenaries are seen in a more positive light - going into action alongside the SAS, SBS and the Paratroopers. This makes for interesting reading

One thing to note; if you're averse to bad language, you might want to look elsewhere. This book was written for the soldiers' benefit and it gets distinctly earthy at time. Interesting, though.

6 out of 10