OPERATION SNAKEBITE The Explosive True Story of an Afghan Desert Siege - Hardcover

Stephen Grey

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0670917869 ISBN 13: 9780670917860

Publisher: Viking Penguin/Penguin Books USA Inc., 2009

Synopsis

In December 2007, Stephen Grey, a Sunday Times reporter, was under fire in Afghanistan as British and US forces struggled to liberate the Taliban stronghold of Musa Qala. Taking shelter behind an American armoured Humvee, Grey turned his head to witness scenes of carnage. A car and a truck were riddled with gunfire. Their occupants, including several children, had died. Taliban positions were pounded by bullets and bombs dropped on their compounds. A day later, as the operation continued, a mine exploded just yards from Grey, killing a British soldier.


Who, he wondered in the days that followed, was responsible for the bloodshed? And what purpose did it serve? A compelling story of one military venture that lasted several days, Operation Snakebite draws on Grey's exclusive interviews with everyone from private soldiers to NATO commanders. The result is a thrilling and at times horrifying story of a war which has gone largely unnoticed back home.

About this title

About the Author

Stephen Grey is a British writer, broadcaster and investigative reporter with over two decades of experience of reporting on intelligence issues. He is best known for his world exclusive revelations about the CIA's programme of 'extraordinary rendition', as well as reports from Iraq and Afghanistan. A former foreign correspondent and investigations editor with The Sunday Times, he has reported for The New York Times, the Guardian, BBC and Channel 4, and is currently a special correspondent with Reuters. Grey is the author of Ghost Plane (2007), on the CIA, and Operation Snakebite (2009), about the war in Helmand, Afghanistan.

Review

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 *

Edition details

• Publisher: Viking Penguin/Penguin Books USA Inc.
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0670917869
• ISBN 13: 9780670917860
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 384