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First Casualty

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First Casualty

By: Toby Harnden
Narrated by: John Hopkins
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About this listen

 'Gripping ... A terrific action narrative' Max Hastings

'Reads like a Tom Clancy thriller, yet every word is true ... This is modern warfare close-up and raw' Andrew Roberts

Bestselling and Orwell Prize-winning author Toby Harnden tells the gripping and incredible story of the six-day battle that began the War in Afghanistan and how it set the scene for twenty years of conflict.

The West is in shock. Al-Qaeda has struck the US on 9/11 and thousands are dead.

Within weeks, UK Special Forces enter the fray in Afghanistan alongside the CIA's Team Alpha and US troops.

Victory is swift, but fragile. Hundreds of jihadists surrender and two operatives from Team Alpha enter Qala-i Jangi – the 'Fort of War' – to interrogate them. The prisoners revolt, one CIA man falls, and the other is trapped inside the fort. Seven members of the SBS – elite British Special Forces – volunteer for the rescue force and race into danger and the unknown.

The six-day battle that follows proves to be one of the bloodiest of the Afghanistan war as the SBS and their American comrades face an enemy determined to die in the mud citadel.

Superbly researched, First Casualty is based on unprecedented access to the CIA, SBS, and US Special Forces. Orwell Prize-winning author Toby Harnden recounts the gripping story of that first battle in Afghanistan and how the haunting foretelling it contained – unreliable allies, ethnic rivalries, suicide attacks, and errant bombs – was ignored, fueling the twenty-year conflict to come.©2021 Toby Harnden (P)2021 Welbeck Publishing Group Freedom & Security Military Politics & Government War & Crisis War Thought-Provoking Inspiring Espionage

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All stars
Most relevant
Having been on assignment in Afghanistan during the Soviet occupation I know how accurate the accounts truly are.

Incredible journalism

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Great account of those early days of the war in Afghanistan from first hand memoirs and interviews of those that were there and the battle at Qali-I-Jangi. Intimate detail and analysis of the beginning of the war and superb summary on how it fatally up-ended.

Excellent account of early days Afghanistan!

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I couldn’t recommend this book enough. I’ve now listened to it and read it. The research and details in the book is fantastic.

Fantastic.

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We owe so much to so few, this is an amazing story, I have been in tears more than once and I couldn't stop listening to it. written so well and with such understanding of real people and families. Not just from the side of the US & UK forces but the Afghanis too. I have done my best to read as much about the wars of my life time where Brothers and Sisters have made the ultimate sacrifice out of respect for them and their families. So if this is something you're looking for then this is for you.

We owe so much to so few, this is an amazing story

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Start is a bit slow but it really gets going in the middle and towards the end. A fascinating insight

Slow start but persevere

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great details. paints a vivid picture of the early days of GWAT . essential listening

an amazing story that needed to be written

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Refined and excellent presentation of this revised perspective; with diligent and extensive research, this was absorbing. Many historical studies inform and immerse, but this left me feeling redirected and gifted with fresh insight.

Outstanding

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An exciting, and sometimes harrowing, journey into the early days of a bitter, two-decade, conflict. Very well written and brilliantly read, this book shines a light on, otherwise dark, operations that ensued post 9-11. A must read. Really.

An exemplary read (listen).

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Just a fantastic listen. This book is full of the nuanced details and context which ground the facts and paint a picture of a moment in time and then the repercussions of that moment. Loved it.

Enthralling and Highly Detailed Story

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Written brilliantly and the choice of who to speak it in audiobook format was inspired. I Very happily binged this one over a few days!

An excellent account, delivered superbly

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