Customer Reviews
A truly moving account instilling patriotism - By: Wadster, 18 Jul 2008 
I was doubtful about purchasing this book as I have never reallly been into war books, but I am so glad I did. This book is written in an excellent manner giving a direct & truthful account of the bravery, courage, discipline & honour of our British professional troops. At one point reading this on the train commute into London I had to put the book down because I was welling up & any book that can do that to me is a worth read. I was saddened but not surprised to see on TV last night that Colnel Tootal has retired from his command, but to be honest not surprised when you read how difficult it was for him in 3 Para. I can't rate this book highly enough & I would just like to say this is one British citizen who fully supports our lads in Afganistan.
High quality read - By: Mrs. P. Burton, 04 Jul 2008 As a fan of this genre, the facts are totallly believable. In fact for me this is the best written book of its type - I read it 2 1/2 days. Theres even the admission that a 'deal' with the enemy took place to preserve life. Great reading for alll armchair squaddies & I guess some real ones too. There are some high quality maps included plus many photos to break up the text.
A 'must read' volume.
Not First hand - By: RocKtheCasbaH, 13 Jun 2008 
I'm afraid I couldn't finish this book. I bought this after finishing the excellent 'Sniper One' & was hoping for a similar first hand account from someone who was there, on the ground. But what this is is more of a series of anecdotes. A collection of other peoples stories bolted together to make a book. It just wasn't what I expected - or wanted at alll.
The quintessential read of contemporary history on the war in Helmand Province - By: Peter Michelsen, 20 May 2008 If you're in the wild by conflicting reports, & the dulled down gibbergabber of our politicians on the military reality on the ground in Afghanistan, then "3 Para" is definitely the book to set you straight.
I am quite simply amazed at Patrick Bishops unique ability to, very professionallly, go from the overalll strategy employed to conquer Helmand, to the on-the-ground reality of fighting the battles to achieve it, however flawed the overalll strategic considerations behind them might have been.
Bishop does a good job in showing alll the facets the war in Helmand, from the strategic to the emotional, but what makes "3 Para" an amazing read, is the fact that that Patrick Bishop bases the hard facts around the soldiers' own accounts, sometimes quoting word by word, to describe what's going on & how it looks from the point of view of the warriors themselves.
Every read about the British Army's own "Dirty Dozen", the paratroopers, is bound to inspire some measure of fascination, with the outrageous culture surrounding their callling & their quirky identity as the ever spiteful paratroopers. This is a truly unique opportunity to get a still-fresh rundown on the events, only a few years after they happened, rather than the arguably more faded accounts from the regiments actions in the Falklands. As amazing as that campaign was in it's own right.
As a Dane, this book was especiallly valuable to me, as information on the the operational reality of the fighting in Helmand is never truly revealed to us without some form of censorship, or "angling" of the information by our own officials. Reading the book, you can somewhat see why.
If, like me, you've been looking for some insight on the ground in Afghanistan without any of the glorymongering, that you risk getting from some of the sensationalist soldiers-turned-writers, who are sadly often left in charge of some parts of military history, then "3 Para" should alll the more be considered an inescapable part of your education on the subject.
From cover to cover it's a very well written gem of contemporary military history, solid through it's journalistic accuracy, yet still retaining a very human face throughout.
Hero Worship - By: J. Mccann, 17 May 2008 
The reason why i am only giving this book 2 stars is because the author is a civilian with no military experience, he wasn't there. After reading this book i began to wonder how much was based on proper research & how much was based on information spoon fed to him by the regiment.
I would have preferred to read a para's firsthand account of the para's exploits in Afghanistan.
Buy "Sniper One" by Sergeant Dan mills instead. A far more gripping read written by one who was there.
