Product Description

The SAS mission conducted behind Iraqi lines is one of the most famous stories of courage and survival in modern warfare. Of the eight members of the SAS regiment who set off, only one escaped capture. This is his story. Late on the evening of 24 January 1991 the patrol was compromised deep behind enemy lines in Iraq. A fierce fire-fight left the eight men miraculously unscathed, but they were forced to run for their lives. Their aim was to reach the Syrian border, 120 kilometres to the north-west, but during the first night the patrol accidentally broke into two groups, five and three. Chris Ryan found himself left with two companions. Nothing had prepared them for the vicious cold of the desert winter, and they began to suffer from hypothermia. During the night one of the men was to disappear in a blinding blizzard. The next day a goat-herd came across the two survivors. Chris's remaining partner, went with him in search of food and was never to return. Left on his own, Chris Ryan beat off an Iraqi attack and set out alone. His greatest adventure was only just beginning. This is the story of courage under fire, of hairbreadth escapes, of the best trained soldiers in the world fighting against adverse conditions, and of one man's courageous refusal to lie down and die.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #468904 in Books
• Published on: 2001-07-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 418 pages

Sunday Times
‘Real strength in detailing the nitty-gritty of operations’

Maxim
‘Packed with trademark technical detailing and gung-ho action’

From the Publisher
The Classic story of the Bravo Two Zero Mission.

Customer Reviews

Realistic action - Gripping in the extreme!!!
I loved Andy McNab's Bravo Two Zero, so when I saw the adverts for Chris Ryan's take on the same covert events deep behind Iraqi enemy lines, I couldn't wait to conscript!! Ryan bills himself as the realist to McNab's dreamer and this is borne out by his gritty and gripping approach to prose. Where Bravo Two Zero owed more to McNab's magical realism The One That Got Away is more about Ryan's no-nonsense, crash-bang-wallop feel for realistic special forces action.

This book is NOT a disappointment. It's gratifying to read such well crafted prose from a man that's actually been there and done it in the worlds premier elite fighting force. This gives Ryan's writing so much more authority and edge than other more run of the mill "war novelists" like Solzhenitzhen or Pat Barker, who may string write pretty words together but would struggle if they had to yomp 250 clicks in a week across hostile enemy terrain.

Another aspect of the book that's often overlooked is the sense of empowerment that's brought to the reader. Having read this book, I now feel that if placed in a "potential enemy flashpoint" I have the skills and tactical abilities to "neutralise" any threats, or at least talk a good game in the pub thereby impressing my mates. And let's face it that's what it's all about, eh?

Couldn't ask for more in a work of literature.

Fair Play...
I really enjoyed this book. After reading other reviews about both Mcnab and Ryan I was a bit on the defensive when reading this book.
Ryan is an obviously confident person and so some of the things that he writes could be taken the wrong way by people who are intimidated by confidence.
I found his account gripping and I read it in two days. Could not stop reading.
So, pay little attention to the people who criticise Ryan (or Mcnab) because until you've gone through it, well its best to keep quiet.
Worth the read and again it just added to my respect for the boys in 22.

He walked the walk... He talks the talk
Having read numerous books, both fact and fiction, relating to special forces, I have to give 2 thumbs up to this particular work by Chris Ryan. A celebration of human endurance and the will to survive along with insights into the human spirit in an almost hopeless situation. Ryan not only gives accurate details of his thoughts and actions during his amazing trek, but also gives the reader a glimpse of what SAS training is all about. It's rare that any soldier would come face to face with the reality and such missfortune as Ryan did, but as you read this book you have the opportunity to follow Ryan on a journey of survial and almost 'experience' the fear, the drive and the shear will to live he experiences. Falling upon skills he developed during all the years of his training within the British Army including the SAS, Chris Ryan was able to achieve an almost impossible task, one that I personaly feel, only a true, trained, expert in survial could achieve.
A first rate, fact filled book... 'Who Dares Wins ' Bravo!