Immediate Action by Andy McNab Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Immediate Action
Book Review: Fantastic!
Summary: 5 Stars
Read this book! If you like it you should read Jan Guillou's Coq Rouge books, they are great!Book Review: God Save The Queen!
Summary: 5 Stars
After hearing about "Bravo Two Zero" and increasing interest in the SAS, I decided to get a McNab book. I would encourage new McNab readers to read "Immediate Action" action, as it details his youth, how he got into the SAS, and so on up until present. One of the things you may notice, as I did, was that McNab doesn't write like other English authors. Instead, his narrative is very street-wise, and it takes a while to get used to it. Sometimes I was lost reading, because there wasn't enough of an explanation in standard English to translate his jargon. Other than that, the book is a great read.
McNab tells how he rose from his humble beginnings and joined the Green Jackets, a regular infantry unit. In hindsight, it seems like if he hadn't joined the army, he would've probably ended up at working at a factory or some other dead end job. Whether it was fate or luck, he is where he is today. While in the GJs, he recounts his brush with death fighting the IRA. When he entered Selection for the SAS, he details the misery and hardships a candidate had to endure and the fact that several men have died during SAS training, because it involves long humps (hikes in other words) with at least 50 kg in a bergen, or backpack alone traveling in the wild. Selection phase is just that, it tests the mental and physical capabilities of potential SAS recruits. Those who make it go on to further their training and eventually become SAS operators. There were several intense SAS stories in McNab's career, and his accounts of all the things he's done around the world to fight terrorism is gripping. The American military has been exposed to unconventional warfare on an open scale just recently, but Britain has had to deal with it for a long time. It is also interesting to note that operators in the SAS or regular soldiers in Britain don't have that elitist attitude nor do they take themselves too seriously as compared to American special operations personnel. It is a job for them and they don't make a big deal out of it. Again, a great read into the lives and minds of those "Who Dares Wins".
Book Review: Good Life Stories
Summary: 4 Stars
My first encounter with Mr. McNab was with "Bravo Two Zero" about being imprisoned by Iraq during the Gulf War. This is a great follow up book that looks into his entire life from childhood through his service with the SAS. The book as a whole is very entertaining because of the tone Mr. McNab takes (dry British humor). He talks in great length about 'selection' in the SAS and his battles with the IRA and also how he ended up on the path to a military career. Mr. McNab has great life experiences and he does not dissappoint in delivering them to the reader in this book. This is a must-read for those interested in reading about the personalities and individual experiences of those in elite fighting forces.Book Review: Good Solid Book About Every Day SAS life
Summary: 4 Stars
As a preface, let me begin by saying I read Bravo Two Zero (by the same author) before I read this. Having read this second, this was a bit of a letdown. I was expecting a similar sort of amazing story to emerge from this book when I picked it up. While this book, on its own, was a good read from front to back, it really doesn't stand up to the excitement that Bravo Two Zero delivers.However, I realize that it's not fair to compare the two and I will try to do my best in keeping them separate. One is a single amazing story behind enemy lines in Iraq, while the other is a series of smaller narratives pertaining to what life is like in the British SAS. This book lacks the explosiveness of the other, but has more of a complete picture of what the Regiment (as McNab refers to it) is like on a day to day basis.
If you're looking for a glimpse into the daily life of the British SAS, this book is for you. If you're looking for something of the same caliber as Bravo Two Zero, this isn't the same sort of thing. Consider yourself fairly warned.
Having prefaced that, quite lengthily, I did enjoy this book. It is a solid read. McNab does a good job portraying what Regiment life is like and the various degrees of action he saw while he was part of it. It's not filled with "shoot 'em up" Hollywood-style action scenes. Far from it. In fact, McNab explains that many times their mission is to never fire their weapons lest they expose themselves prematurely and risk the success of the mission.
The book really sets you straight in a lot of ways. Gone are the notions that special forces teams exist to kill first, second, and third. As McNab says, there are times when it becomes necessary, but by and large, killing is not what it's all about. Finishing the mission is.
Another aspect I like about this book is that we see a realization by McNab that he screwed up his married life time and time again. By devoting himself so fully to the service he was part of, he didn't realize until much later that he was paying no mind to his current wife. All the while, his marriage was going down the tubes. It's refreshing to see him be able to look back and shoulder the blame for that.
His observations of third world cultures are enlightening also. Often times we think that everything to be had is here in the Western world. McNab comes to the realization that the cultures of many of these societies are simple, yet complex. Again, I mention this because as a reader, I was surprised and refreshed at the perspective McNab is able to bring as a member of a special forces team.
Again, this book is a very good read. I recommend it. I give it 4 stars because it's not what I was expecting coming into it. There are times when it tends to bog down in the mundane, every day life of just being a soldier. But overall, it's a good read which I enjoyed from start to finish. Definitely recommended.
Book Review: Gritty, realistic
Summary: 5 Stars
It is not the destination, but the journey. Andy McNab knows both. Elite forces require both intelligent and intuition to succeed. Here you have bits of the training spliced in with humor and reality.