Product Description

An explosive insider's account of life as a private contractor in Iraq. In September 2003, James Ashcroft, a former British Infantry captain who served in West Belfast and Bosnia, landed in Iraq as a 'gun for hire'. It was the beginning of an 18-month journey into chaos. In "Making a Killing", Ashcroft provides a first-hand view of the secret world of private security where ex-soldiers employed to protect US and British interests can make up to $1000 a day. But he also reveals a new kind of warfare where the rules are still being written. Although hostilities are officially over, the fighting goes on. Scores of US soldiers are dying every day, Coalition Forces are struggling to defend their own bases, let alone bring order and every insurgent killed only recruits a dozen more to fight Western forces.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9026 in Books
• Published on: 2007-07-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Review
"'This diary of death and destruction radiates not just personality, but that elusive, lyrical honesty the existentialists used to call 'authenticity' Daily Telegraph"

From the Back Cover
The Lure: $1,000 a day as a hired gun in Iraq
The Reality: For every insurgent killed, a dozen more rise up

In September 2003, James ‘Ash’ Ashcroft, a former British Infantry Captain, arrived in Iraq as a ‘gun for hire’. It was the beginning of an 18-month journey into blood and chaos.

In this action-packed page-turner, Ashcroft reveals the dangers of his adrenalin-fuelled life as a security contractor in Baghdad, where private soldiers outnumber non-US Coalition forces in a war that is slowly being privatised. From blow-by-blow accounts of days under mortar bombardment to revelations about life operating deep within the Iraqi community, Ashcroft shares the real, unsanitised story of the war in Iraq – and its aftermath – direct from the front line.

James Ashcroft is a former British Infantry Captain who served in West Belfast and the former Republic of Yugoslavia. He served as a private security contractor in Iraq from September 2003 until spring 2005.

About the Author
James Ashcroft is a former British Infantry Captain who served in West Belfast and Bosnia. He served as a private security contractor in Iraq from September 2003 until spring 2005.

Customer Reviews

A gripping book
Among the four books already published about security contractors in Iraq, this is for sure one of the best, if not the best. You'll get a picture of the atmosphere you sense in Baghdad, the mayhem and the comradeship. It's a well written book, I recommend it even for the final considerations about US foreign policy especially in Iraq. James Ashcroft tells you what Time, even criticizing the US foreign policy in Iraq, was not able to say: Bremer's awful mistakes, the gung ho people and the desk generals who ponder things the US way.
Buy this book and you'll not regret the money you spent.

Reality from Iraq
I read the book into the early hours of the morning.
The story is dramatically but modestly told, genuinely informative and
overall, an excellent read.
The author's observations and opinions, made to the american officers' audience, on pages 210-217, are the most suuccinctly stated comments on the reasons for the war I have read to date.
This book is essential reading for those people wishing to make their own mind up.

Worth a punt...
When I started reading this book I immediately became suspicious of the "action sequences", they had a slightly hyped almost Hollywood ring to them. I made my mind up that this was going to be all gung ho and no substance. Thankfully I was wrong, as you move further into the book you start to get a picture of what it is like to live in a land who's culture is completely alien to ours. Reading about the friends made and lost gave this book more of a sentimental side that wasn't expected. I also have to admit that Ashcrofts perception as to why we went to war gave me something to think about. I'd recommend this book, its easy to pick up and hard to put down and although some parts may be "boys own", its definitely worth buying.