Escape from Kabul: The Inside Story

Reviews

Gemma

I’ve read many military historical books, and there’s not many that I’ve been emotionally invested in. A messy war with a messy end.

Chris Michaels

Levison and Gez lay down every account that’s been expertly weaved with historical facts, laying the foundations of one of the most hard hitting periods of history, and as perfectly explained ‘The best and worst of humanity’I’ve said that Brothers in Arms by Geraint is one of the best books written about Afghanistan, Escape from Kabul is its equal as well as having its own place in military history books. Highly recommended.

Cobalt 45

This is one of those books that smoothly takes you through this journey of hearing the many stories of those that made history and respectfully commemorates those no longer with us. Their assessments are brutally candid and unflinching, whilst maintaining balance.

For our veterans of the campaign years and the many that sat slack jawed and uncomprehending as the evacuation played out, I strongly recommend this book, it helps makes sense of the Forever War and how the West got it so shamefully wrong. I remember watching this unfold on the TV and being horrified by what I was seeing. You can't possibly answer every question about what went so wrong here. Myopic policy and flawed strategy is called out whilst the stoicism and humanity of the many delivering the evacuation shines through.

Escape from Kabul is one that I was emotionally invested in from page 1. But the authors do a really good job of trying. The writing is tight and engaging and whilst I squirmed as we shudder towards the last flight out and abject failure, I came away with a much better understanding of how it happened.

I enjoyed the breadth and range of the contributors whether taken from open source at the time or in candid interview with the authors. This is an important account of the people involved, a detailed history of what led to it, and a compassionate narrative that helps put the whole dark period in perspective. Major Levison Wood and Geraint Jones deliver a compelling and 'Full fat' account of the path towards the seemingly inevitable collapse in Afghanistan and the subsequent scramble to get our Afghan allies out. Reassuring for this old soldier to see the quality at the tip of the spear is as sharp as ever, be it British Paras, USMC or Special Forces.