Operation Snakebite
The Explosive True Story of an Afghan Desert Siege
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Penguin Books Ltd
Published:4th Feb '10
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
Coming up to Christmas, and reporter Stephen Grey is embedded with B Company, 2 Yorks, in southern Afghanistan during Operation Snakebite. Their mission: to take the Taliban stronghold of Musa Qala. For some this battle will be their last.
In the thick of the fighting, Grey provides a breathtaking boots-and-bullets glimpse of combat chaos as British, American and Afghan forces struggle to secure a dusty little desert town known to be crucial to the drug trade.
Operation Snakebite reveals everything you need to know about the brutal conflict in Afghanistan: from the political infighting and bureaucratic interference to the frontline troops soldiering on with unsuitable gear and poor intelligence.
Exemplary. An uncommonly vivid portrait of battle, matched by sharp investigation of purposes, intrigues and cock-ups -- Max Hastings * Sunday Times *
Superb, fast-paced. Captures the grit and the gore, the exhaustion and emotion, the killing and the dying. A fine piece of war reporting -- Raymond Bonner * Guardian *
Grey manages to get across the chaos and the hellish fear experienced by those under fire at the sharp end of battle. Will long outlast the events it recounts * Sunday Herald *
The fear, the courage, the uncertainty, the gut-wrenching personal tragedies and the sheer mayhem of two days' intensive fighting is frequently more vivid than any film. Terrific -- Misha Glenny * Mail on Sunday *
A fascinating insight . . . a catalogue of doubt, criticism and anger -- David Crouch * Financial Times *
A revealing, exceptional piece of reportage -- Michael Smith * New Statesman *
ISBN: 9780141038308
Dimensions: 198mm x 129mm x 35mm
Weight: 500g
400 pages