Sniper One: The Blistering True Story of a British Battle Group Under Siege - Softcover

Mills, Dan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0718153472 ISBN 13: 9780718153472

Publisher: Michael Joseph, 2007

Synopsis

We all saw it at once. Half a dozen voices screamed 'Grenade!' simultaneously. Then everything went into slow motion. The grenade took an age to travel through its 20 metre arc. A dark, small oval-shaped package of misery the size of a peach ...

April 7TH 2004: a year to the day since the city had fallen. Saddam had been deposed. The Marines and the Para's were long gone and Southern Iraq rarely made it into the news. When Sgt Dan Mills and the rest of the 1st Batallion, The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment flew in, they were supposed to be winning hearts and minds. They were soon fighting for their lives.

Within hours of arriving in Iraq a grenade bounced off one of the battalion's landrovers, rolled underneath and detonated. The ambush marked the beginning of a full-scale firefight during which Mill's killed a man with a round that removed his assailant's head. It was going to be a long tour.

Like some post-apocalyptic Mad Max nightmare, the place had gone to hell in a handcart. Temperatures on the ground often topped 50c, sewage systems that had long since packed up, the stench of cooking waste and piles of festering rubbish that grew wherever you looked. Throat-burning winds, blast bombs and well-trained, well-organised militias armed with AKs and RPGs and a limitless supply of mortar rounds were the icing on the cake.

If any of Mills's 18 man sniper platoon had thought that the people of Al Amarah were going to welcome them with open arms, they were forced to rapidly reconsider. For the next six months, isolated, besieged and under constant fire the battalion refused to give an inch. Cimic House, their HQ, may have been shit, but it was home. And its defence, the most intense the British army fought in 50 years, was a modern day Rorke's Drift.

Sniper One is a breathtaking chronical of endurance, camaraderie, dark humour and courage in the face of relentless, lethal assault.

About this title

Review:

"One of the best first-hand accounts of combat that I've ever read."--Andy McNab, international bestselling author of "Bravo Two Zero"

"Mills powerfully describes the demanding work of his snipers before and after the city was brought under control...British participation in Iraq has been largely ignored in the U.S. That should change with Mills's page-turning account."--"Publishers Weekly" (starred review)

"Possibly the year's best book, so far, on combat in Iraq."--"Booklist"

"A gritty, speedball run...strong, cohesive, and complete...plugs the reader straight into the blood and guts of the action."--"The Times "(UK)

"Another testosterone-laced memoir of an elite unit kicking butt in Iraq, this one with a cheerful, politically incorrect British twist....A military memoir refreshingly devoid of the usual patriotic overlay." --"Kirkus Reviews"

One of the best first-hand accounts of combat that I've ever read. Andy McNab, international bestselling author of Bravo Two Zero

Mills powerfully describes the demanding work of his snipers before and after the city was brought under control (more or less). . . . British participation in Iraq has been largely ignored in the United States. That should change with Mills's page-turning account, already an international bestseller. Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Possibly the year's best book, so far, on combat in Iraq. Booklist

Another testosterone-laced memoir of an elite unit kicking butt in Iraq, this one with a cheerful, politically incorrect British twist. . . . A military memoir refreshingly devoid of the usual patriotic overlay. Kirkus Reviews

A gritty, speedball run strong, cohesive, and complete plugs the reader straight into the blood and guts of the action. The Times (UK)
"Kirkus Reviews""

One of the best first-hand accounts of combat that I've ever read. Andy McNab, international bestselling author of Bravo Two Zero

Mills powerfully describes the demanding work of his snipers before and after the city was brought under control (more or less). . . . British participation in Iraq has been largely ignored in the United States. That should change with Mills's page-turning account, already an international bestseller. Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Possibly the year's best book, so far, on combat in Iraq. Booklist

Another testosterone-laced memoir of an elite unit kicking butt in Iraq, this one with a cheerful, politically incorrect British twist. . . . A military memoir refreshingly devoid of the usual patriotic overlay. Kirkus Reviews

A gritty, speedball run strong, cohesive, and complete plugs the reader straight into the blood and guts of the action. The Times (UK)
Kirkus Reviews

"

-One of the best first-hand accounts of combat that I've ever read.- --Andy McNab, international bestselling author of Bravo Two Zero

-Mills powerfully describes the demanding work of his snipers before and after the city was brought under control (more or less). . . . British participation in Iraq has been largely ignored in the United States. That should change with Mills's page-turning account, already an international bestseller.- --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

-Possibly the year's best book, so far, on combat in Iraq.- --Booklist

-Another testosterone-laced memoir of an elite unit kicking butt in Iraq, this one with a cheerful, politically incorrect British twist. . . . A military memoir refreshingly devoid of the usual patriotic overlay.- --Kirkus Reviews

-A gritty, speedball run...strong, cohesive, and complete...plugs the reader straight into the blood and guts of the action.- --The Times (UK)
Kirkus Reviews

From the Back Cover:

Iraq, 2004. Sgt. Dan Mills and the rest of the 1st Battalion, The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment, were supposed to be winning hearts and minds. They were soon fighting for their lives...

-[A] POWERFUL...page-turning account.---Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Within hours of the battalion's arrival in Iraq, a grenade bounced off one of their Land Rovers, rolled underneath, and detonated. The ambush marked the beginning of a full-scale firefight during which Mills killed a man with a round that removed his assailant's head.

-Possibly the year's best book, so far, on combat in Iraq.- --Booklist

The mission had already gone from bad to worse. Throat-burning winds, blast bombs, and militias armed with AKs, RPGs, and a limitless supply of mortar rounds were the icing on the cake for Mills and his men. For the next six months--isolated, besieged, and under constant fire--their battalion refused to give an inch. This is the breathtaking true chronicle of their endurance, camaraderie, dark humor, and courage in the face of relentless, lethal assault.

-Plugs the reader straight into the blood and guts of the action.---The Times (UK)

About this edition

• Publisher: Michael Joseph
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0718153472
• ISBN 13: 9780718153472
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 384