BOOK OF THE MONTH
British Military Veterans Accounts of the Iraq War 2003
For many, the 2003 coalition invasion of Saddam Hussein’s Iraq is a memory stained by controversy and ministerial deceit. Polarised political opinion, and a negative media portrayal in the 20 years that have followed the toppling of Hussein’s statue in Firdos Square, Baghdad, have perhaps left the public ignorant of the stories of courage, fortitude and pride that earmarked the 26 days of initial combat operations.
Exacerbating this, among the surprisingly small bibliography charting the invasion, few have dedicated their pages to the personal stories of the men and women on the ground who took part in Operation Telic – the codename for operations carried out by British forces during the invasion.
Author Julian Whippy, a 25-year veteran policeman, Royal Anglian Regiment reservist and military historian, is well placed to provide what is, in the reviewer’s opinion, the first essential overview of the British contribution to the invasion of Iraq. Burning Horizon: British Military Veterans Accounts of the Iraq War 2003 is not only a comprehensive, chronological overview of Telic from the months of preparation to final demobilisation, but also an intimately personal, human tale of conflict, drawn from a wide range of first-hand accounts.
