An honest memoir by a British Bomb Disposal squad leader. Its not all pretty, nor is it all horrible. Chris does a great job of conveying the give and take of the job, the moments of sheer excitement, absurdity, danger, boredom, and touching moments. The author and his team were called out to 48 disposals in 2 months time before he got promoted and put to a desk job to try and take the bomber cells out.

Whats also interesting is the natural drama of life he chose to include throughout the book, he also writes about his family and how he came very close to losing his wife and kids because of his promises to them that he broke. He accepts responsibility for his actions and knows how close he came to losing it all. During his time in Iraq he also had a bounty put on his head by the terrorists and was specifically watched and targeted repeatedly. An excellent look at the war in Iraq through the eyes of a foreign participant (In my case that is, Im American the author is English). ( )

As a memoir of a British explosive ordnance disposal operator it's exciting and quite moving. His writing captures the boredom, the fear and the excitement of what must be one of the most harrowing occupations, military or civilian. He also speaks of the problems of a family man, trying to balance remaining focused and in emotional check at his task and yet being upset and unhappy trying to keep his marriage together. What is missing from this book, yet present in other British memoirs such as Sniper One by Dan Mills and Apache by Ed Macy, is a more detached look at what he and others were doing while deployed in service. It's not a failing of the book, but simply the focus of the writing. The book is still a very good read and worthwhile for the general reader of military history. ( )

Very good ( )