Product Description

To survive over 20 years of active service in the SAS takes a particular kind of man. Pete Scholey, ex Royal Artillery and Parachute Regiment, possessed the necessary mix of courage and coolness under extreme pressure. He joined the SAS in 1963 and eventually hung up his boots in 1986, 23 years later. During that time he served - often covertly - in many of the world's trouble spots. In "The Joker", he vividly describes life as a soldier at the sharp end, giving first-hand accounts of the many actions he was involved in, from jungle warfare in Borneo and desert fighting in Aden and Oman to his part in the setting up of the counter-terrorist team that was successfully used in the siege of the Iranian Embassy in 1980. He outlines the operational skills that took his teams deep into enemy territory without ever being captured, reveals how they achieved their objectives and describes the humour that he managed to find in the most hair-raising moments. An exciting account of some of this century's most sensitive and dangerous operations, told by a born raconteur, "The Joker" also offers a genuine insight into the toughness, professionalism and camaraderie that has made the SAS the world's premier fighting force.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4730 in Books
• Published on: 2007-01-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Review
"Taylor's self-deprecating, sardonic writing style turns what could have been tiresome descriptions of his training regime and his first few races into laugh-aloud prose. [His] book is both amusing and eye-opening and will appeal to a wide range of readers - even those whose running experience is limited to sprinting for the morning bus.' - Booklist"

About the Author
After completing national service, Pete Scholey immediately signed up for the regular Army. He served two yeas with the Royal Army Service Corps, three years with the Royal Regiment of Artillery, then three years in the Parachute Regiment before volunteering for the SAS in 1963. There he served 23 years in campaigns that took him all over the world. He continues to give talks about his time with this elite team.

Customer Reviews

It's a great book, very funny.
This book is about the Author's life in the British 22nd Special Air Service. It is writen in a very informal, humorus way, quite amusing to read about some of his escapades in desert and jungle warfare. It gives an amusing insight into the history of the Special Air Service. The author was involved in some of the most dangerous and sensitive operations that the SAS has been involved with, it is very interesting. A must read for anybody interested in the army and the SAS.

The first SAS autobiography played for laughs.
Pete Scholey is a very funny man. Every SAS autobiography that I've read has been pompous, macho and testosterone-packed: Scholey completely subverts this by blowing the whistle on what actually happened.

A typical example took place in the jungles of Borneo: Scholey got stuck up a tree when a helicopter winch broke and he was then attacked by an irate orang-utan. Unable to escape, he was forced to shoot the ape, but the rest of the patrol, on the ground two hundred feet below him had no idea what had happened and assumed that the man-shaped object falling out of the tree was him. One of Scholey's mates then tried to break 'Pete's' fall, only to have a quarter ton dead orang-utan land on him.

The whole book is filled with stories like that: tremendous!

Decent book,
I purchased this book after seeing the ratings previously obtained and my love for this type of book. Having finished it in around two days it was certainly readable. Scholesey obviously lives upto his name of the Joker and I found myself laughing aloud at some of his anecdotes.

However, whilst his account of his basic training is very enjoyable there is not a lot of detailed accounts about his postings abroad. You cant take anything away from the soldiers but there did seem to be a slightly unprofessional account to some of the casulties in the book. I did enjoy it, but think about purchasing "Mike Curtis - Close Quarter Battle" which was an even better account, possibly helped by the fact that it covers more recent times.