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Dusty Warriors: Modern Soldiers at War by: Richard Holmes List Price: £8.99 City Travel Guides Price: £6.99 You Save: £2.00 (22%)Prices subject to change. |
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Binding: Paperback EAN: 9780007212859 ISBN: 0007212852 Label: HarperPerennial Manufacturer: HarperPerennial Number Of Pages: 316 Publication Date: February 05, 2007 Publisher: HarperPerennial Studio: HarperPerennial Sales Rank: 60042 Related Items:
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Editorial Review: Sunday Times: 'A vivid snapshot of military life... simultaneously romantic and hard-headed, is clear on every page.' The Daily Mail: 'vivid, gripping...highly emotional reading...Dusty Warriors is essential reading. Richard Holmes is a first-rate writer.' Sunday Times: '...provides a compelling and fast-moving narrative of the courage, restraint and fortitude shown by British soldiers in impossible circumstances...' The Spectator: 'You will not be able to put it down...thought-provoking and profoundly perceptive...' Book Description: / Key title Our foremost military historian offers us a compelling and at times terrifying account of what it means to be a contemporary soldier, written in the words of the men and women of his regiment who are currently completing a dangerous and bloody six-month tour of duty. / DUSTY WARRIORS is a distinctive and intimate account of what it means to be a soldier in the modern day, told in the voices of the soldiers themselves. / A unique portrait of a regiment at war - every member of the Princess of Wales Royal Regiment (The Tigers), from the commanding officer to most junior private, has contributed a written account. / Richard Holmes is our foremost military historian. TOMMY has sold almost 70,000 copies to date, and REDCOAT close to 120,000. / Vividly illustrated with digital photos taken by the soldiers themselves. / Guaranteed review coverage and author events. The Tablet: 'this book in invaluable...' Times Literary Supplement: '...great vividness and immediacy...' Synopsis: Our foremost military historian offers us a compelling and at times terrifying account of what it means to be a contemporary soldier. In this remarkable book, Richard Holmes draws on the testimonies of the 700 soldiers of the Princess of Wales Royal Regiment to capture in vivid detail the average soldier's day-to-day experience of war. Embroiled in a conflict often too dangerous for reporters to cover, these soldiers - most of them young, many without any previous experience of warfare - have kept ongoing records of the drudgery, anxiety and horror involved in fighting a violent and increasingly unpopular war against a ruthless and resourceful enemy. All have risked their lives, and many have died. Others have been recognised and awarded for their courage, resourcefulness and gallantry - Private Johnson Beharry recently became the first man to be awarded the Victoria Cross in 23 years. With these intimate and revealing glimpses of life in the modern army, Richard Holmes paints a sweeping portrait of a new generation of soldiers - grunts, gallants and heroes - and the sacrifices their decision to fight for their country entails. From the Back Cover: ' A compelling and fast-moving narrative of the courage, restraint and fortitude shown by British soldiers in impossible circumstances. An important milestone for future generations wanting to understand the British Army' Sunday Times Despite 24-hour rolling media coverage of modern conflict few of us understand what is demanded of the contemporary 'Tommy' - what it's like when your day job includes grenades, bayonets and night operations. Now, in Dusty Warriors, we have a compelling, exciting, sometimes terrifying picture of real life in the modern army. Foremost military historian Richard Holmes has drawn on the testimonies and personal photographs of Britsh soldiers in Iraq to vividly capture their day-to-day experiences - from camp kitchens to the rooftops of Basra and Al Amarah, from a sweaty improvised gym to the heart of an armoured convoy barrelling out across the desert. 'First-rate ... with this exciting, affectionate account of his regiment at war Holmes has set a standard for other military authors to aspire to.' Daily Mail 'Thought-provoking and profoundly perceptive. This book will open eyes to the stirring realities of life at the tip of the bayonet' Spectator Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
 Rating:  - Can't see the desert for the sand at timesRichard Holmes hits the nail on the head in his preface when he discusses the challenge in striking the right balance between journalism and history. I think he failed in that respect, erring too far and too often into sensationalist copy, but the book as a whole isn't a failure. It's very readable and exciting and succeeds in introducing the reader to a fighting battle group. Holmes keeps to his tried-and-tested formula of including generous quotes from many individuals so the account isn't too skewed to any one soldier's experiences. In this way this book will differ from the many memoirs currently flooding the market. Also, this is one respect in which it feels more like a history book than a piece of journalism. However, I've ... Read More: Rating:  - Enthralling book from soldiers' first hand accountsAs both an eminent historian and the Colonel of PWRR, Richard Holmes had unique access to the first hand accounts of the soldiers across the battalion featured in this story and the skills to turn them into a readable and insightful study of the modern British Army at war. This account of an Iraq deployment during 2004, as the rise of tension and specifically the activities of the mahdi army turned what should have been a transition to peace into the fiercest British Army conflict since Korea, is a very honest and at times raw description of operational life - told by the soldiers themselves. Despite the modern media perception of the army flipping between the extremes of down to earth heroes or out of control louts, the soldiers come across as ... Read More: Rating: - Cap Badge at its bestRichard Holmes was the Colonel of the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment, a new regiment assembled out of the historical regiments of South East England. This book is his account (via the personal accounts of the men and women of 1PWRR) of their tour in Iraq. The book starts out with a handy dandy summary of what an Army battalion is like, how it functions, and of the Ministry of Defence reorganisations that produced some of its present manifestations. The book covers everyone in the unit from admin clerk to Warrior driver and its grist is accounts of the "contacts" in which various factions ambush the Army going about its daily business. One of these contacts gave rise to the award of a VC, a good indication of the intensity of combat. Read More: Rating: - Good but slightly bias.A cracking book if you want to understand the mentality and courage of the average soldier responding to a difficult situation. However Richard Holmes, as Regt Col of PWRR, does write this from a bias point of view and message throughout the book is almost one of the rear echelon troops provided no value bar getting in the way and the PWRR saved the day. Don't get me wrong - this book records the deeds of some very brave soldiers but it lacked that wider picture for my liking and I expected more. Rating: - It's that bloke off the tellyGood read! I had expected this to be heavy going but the author does a great job interspersing his own narrative with quotes from the guys who were there. It is hectic. All I can say is I'm glad I'm not there (I was in Gulf War I) but I'm happy to see the British army...despite the best efforts of our politicians and bureaucrats.. is still the best and most professional army in the world, bar none. |
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