SNIPER ONE – the book you need to read

I’ve just had the pleasure of finishing SNIPER ONE, a new book detailing a British sniper’s tour of duty in Iraq, 2004. Here’s my review:

Blurb

 

April 2004: Sgt Dan Mills and his platoon of snipers fly into southern Iraq, part of an infantry battalion sent to win hearts and minds. They were soon fighting for their lives.

 

Back home we were told they were peacekeeping. But there was no peace to keep. Because within days of arriving in theatre, Mills and his men were caught up in the longest, most sustained firefight British troops had faced for over fifty years.

 

This awe-inspiring account tells of total war in throat-burning winds and fifty-degree heat, blasted by mortars and surrounded by heavily armed militias. For six months, they fought alone: isolated, besieged and under constant enemy fire. Their heroic stand a modern-day Rorke’s Drift.

 

Review

 

I was and still am a massive fan of the two ‘90s behind-enemy-lines-in-Iraq classics, Bravo Two Zero by Andy McNab and The One That Got Away by Chris Ryan. So when I heard Sniper One, a new non-fiction account of British soldiers fighting in Iraq, mentioned in the same breath as Bravo Two Zero I knew I had to get my hands on it.

 

I’m glad I did.

 

This is exciting, even exhilarating reading material, a top-class book that works because it’s got such fantastic drive to it. There’s no waffle here, no philosophising or background information, just a simple, straightforward narrative from the point of view of a sergeant in sniper platoon who finds himself stationed in a town occupied by hostile forces. The blurb compares what happens to Rorke’s Drift – the infamous story of British soldiers battling overwhelming numbers of Zulus in the 19^th century – and they’re not far wrong. Action-packed and adrenaline-pumping throughout, this is a riveting read because it’s down to earth and matter of fact. Dan Mills tells it how it is.

 

I’m not surprised that attempts were made to ‘ban’ this book; I imagine few members of the Great British Public have any kind of idea that this is how things are in a war zone. Our troops are holed up in a concrete building and in the coming weeks they find themselves defending it from repeated mortar attack, as well as rocket propelled grenades, roadside bombs and hundreds of machine-gun wielding enemies. There’s a Boy’s Own adventure style aspect to it which doesn’t hurt at all, and is inevitable considering all the action going on. But what hooked me is that there’s no swaggering accounts of heroism or unwanted posturing; these are just guys doing their job as best they can. I also liked the fact that Mills isn’t afraid to write the truth – yes, it does feel mighty good when you take out a guy who just blew up one of your men.

 

Sniper One is a modern-day classic, and I truly mean that. Expertly paced, full of gritty realism and a surprising amount of humour amid the chaos, this is how accounts of warfare should be: written by the guys on the front line who tell it how it is. An eye-opening delight.

 

Rating: 5/5