Soldier Against the Odds: From Infantry to SAS

Name: Soldier Against the Odds: From Infantry to SAS
Rating: 4.08 (24 reviews)
Author: Large, Lofty
ISBN: 9781840181432

Large, Lofty

24 ratings by Goodreads

Language: English

Published by Mainstream Publishing, 1999

1840181435 / 9781840181432

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Title: Soldier Against the Odds: From Infantry to SAS
Author: Large, Lofty
Publisher: Mainstream Publishing
Publication year: 1999
Condition: Good
Binding: Hardcover
Language: English
ISBN 10: 1840181435
ISBN 13: 9781840181432

Review

If you believed all the hype, you would imagine that the honest squaddie's eye-view of the Army was a new phenomenon, that began with Andy McNab's bestselling Bravo Two Zero. McNab was supposed to have written the story that the top brass never wanted to see in print. The history of warfare was the exclusive preserve of the officer class, who could rewrite their campaigns to serve their own ends, and didn't want any awkward upstart nonentities telling us what we actually already knew--namely that warfare is one part planning to ten parts cock-up. In which case, Lofty Large's squaddie's tale, Soldier Against the Odds, is something of an anomaly, as it is essentially two books first published in the mid-1980s and long-since out of print--One Man's War in Korea and One Man's SAS--merged into one volume with a small amount of new material thrown in. What makes this book even more anomalous is that it is actually quite well-written and thoughtful with it. No one can have failed to notice that blokeish war memoirs sell. But seeing Soldier Against the Odds as merely another in the long line of Bravo Two Zero wannabes is to seriously undersell it. Large is a legend in SAS history. He joined the army as a 15-year-old band boy in 1946. He then served in Korea, where he was both wounded and taken prisoner. On his return home, he was told that his days of active service were over; Large wouldn't accept this. He got himself fit, and passed the selection process for the SAS with whom he served with distinction in hot-spots such as Aden, Malaya and Oman. There is all the usual stuff on offer here; the blood, the guts, the boredom, the fear and the universal incompetence of the officer class. But there is also something a bit more profound. Large combines the personal detail with an unusual ability to see a wider perspective. So what emerges is not just a solipsistic life story in which other characters feature as mere incidentals, but as a more universalised experience of army life. If I had to put money on either McNab or Large for authenticity and accuracy, mine would go on Large every time. An unexpected pleasure. --John Crace

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