PMCI - October 2014

Desperate Glory
by Sam Kiley
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC / RRP: £7.99 (paperback)
Kris Roberts reviews award-winning journalist Sam
Kiley’s book about his time in Helmand with Britain’s
16 Air Assault Brigade
had been looking for a book detailing the British experience
Iof the current conflict in Afghanistan for some
time. For some unknown reason, most of the
books I’ve read these past few months have
focused on the American point of view and I
was eager to re-dress the balance and bring my
attention back to Blighty. I’d a copy of Desperate
Glory sitting on my shelf for nearly a year,
so I decided that this was the perfect time to
dust it off and give it a go.
Sam Kiley is an award-winning journalist
who, over a twenty year career, has covered
conflicts around the world, including Somalia,
Rwanda and Sierra Leone to name a few. With
such a track record he was perfectly suited to
follow the 16 Air Assault Brigade into Helmand Province for
a six month tour. A tour which would take him to the front lines
of a vicious and ruthless combat zone.
Kiley was granted unprecedented access to all ranks,
from the Brigadier in command down to the Rifleman on the
ground. As such he was able to offer a broad view of the situation
that faces our troops on a daily basis, and the demands
that are placed on them not only from the enemy, but from a
government thousands of miles away.
“I’ll freely admit that I was in bits
reading about the Corporal who
kept talking to his dead friend as
he dragged his lifeless body along
a drainage ditch and away from
enemy fire”
As a witness to the war rather than a participant, Kiley is able to
provide the reader with a larger canvas to view than the one offered
by a firsthand personal account. Because of this he can cover different
events and details and combine them as a whole, so that what we are
left with is not only a bigger picture, but a deeper perspective. What
with him being in a position to observe soldiers in action, from aggressive
patrols into enemy areas, the static defence of Forward Operating
Bases, and the large scale convoys that are used to bring supplies, Kiley
gathers together a wealth of information and experience from various
fighting men and women.
The fighting itself takes centre stage throughout the book, and
Kiley doesn’t shy away from highlighting the brutal reality and extreme
violence that takes place. We are introduced to the soldiers, listen to
their stories and opinions as the author interviews them, and then read
in horror as some are killed in action just a few days later.
Kiley manages to deal with the matter of fact issue of life and
death in a balanced and compassionate manner, taking time to show
the emotional and psychological effects that the war has on the troops.
I’ll freely admit that I was in bits reading about the Corporal who kept
talking to his dead friend as he dragged his lifeless body along a drainage
ditch and away from enemy fire.
What becomes really apparent as the book moves on are the
restrictions placed on the troops that, while serving to placate the general
public back home in the UK, are nothing short of tactical lunacy.
I appreciate the need for political consideration and that hearts and
minds must be won at home as well as among the local population but
for the soldier on the ground, whose life is at risk, the frustration must
be unbearable, and Kiley does well to show these frustrations from a
fighting man’s point of view.
Gripping, thrilling, insightful and often heart-wrenching, Desperate
Glory manages to show the horrific nature of war and how, despite
the odds, remarkable men and women thrive and excel themselves
in the most adverse of human endeavours. A must read for anyone
looking to further their understanding of what modern warfare entails.
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