Very intereesting look into the actual life a high profile security contractor. Although a tad short, the stories told are very detailed and flow together with ease.

I think the book was well written by the author. He had good detail about his time in Iraq as a contractor. What I didn't like was that he seemed to down the US Military and the tactics they use. He makes it out that the Army just goes out and kills anything that moves(which is not true).
I served in Iraq as Marine and with the Army and I never witnessed any actions that he says he saw (Does it happen yes I am sure) But some security companies do cause problems for US soldiers as well. Security contractors do a great job and are needed in Iraq. Capt James Ashcroft should have spent time as a real soldier in a real war instead of a gun for hire before making such judgments about Americas troops. Beyond all that the book gives good accounts about his time in Iraq.

I found this to be a really enjoyable read. It's definitely action-packed! I enjoyed the candid writing and the Brit perspective. As an active duty U.S. military officer and I found his descriptions extremely accurate and insightful. Here's to hoping he writes another book.

This book is a highly entertaining read! I thoroughly enjoyed it. I only gave it 4 stars, but I can be a bit of a miser when it comes to ratings. Ashcroft really does a good job describing the early part of the Iraq occupation through the eyes of a Brit. I really like how his nationality and the differences in his military training and tactics influence the narrative in the book. I also found his many little stories about working with the local people to be very humorous and insightful at the same time. Not quite BlackHawk Down, but right up there with The Long Road Home or Lone Survivor in my opinion.

I loved this book. Having read a number of military biographies from the Iraq conflict,I have really enjoyed reading about these front line experiences. I would much rather listen to a soldier who has been there than to some watered down version, delivered by journalists and edited for television. This book is no exception, and the author's experiences with the Iraqis nationals, give the book a different and unique perspective, one sadly that we as civilians leading our lives safely back home are generally kept ignorant of. I only wish the author would consider another book, and am going to purchase the video Shadow Company which he collaborated on... see www.makingakilling.co.uk. In my opinion it is up there with the best of them, 'Generation Kill', 'My War','House to House', 'Hard Corps', 'Just another Soldier'and Nathanial Flick's 'One Bullet Away'. I highly recommend all of the above.

There are a lot of good books coming out of Iraq and Afghanistan but this is one of the great ones. hard to put it down. Great description of what it is like to be a contractor in Iraq with very good points about the advisability of th war and U.S. polticial and military tactics.

A good airplane book for those who like Black Hawk Down and Bravo Two Zero. The book is also useful to observe how the US forces are perceived by both the Iraqis and their Coalition partners. Some US forces are doing an excellent job while others are creating more irhabi's with their unrestrained use of firepower. The US Forces manage to score a lot of own goals with both PMC's, their allies not to mention other US forces.

For the serious researcher of the PMC phenomena I recommend reading the following:

A Bloody Business: America's War Zone Contractors and the Occupation of Iraq

WAR DOG: Fighting Other People's Wars -The Modern Mercenary in CombatCorporate Warriors: The Rise of the Privatized Military Industry (Cornell Studies in Security Affairs)

Licensed to Kill: Hired Guns in the War on Terror

This is a well written book on modern combat in the middle east. In addition to telling a riveting story, Mr. Ashcroft provides some unique (though often clearly biased) perspectives on the actions of the Coalition Forces in Iraq. Overall, it is a fun and exciting read. I'm only giving it four stars for two reasons: 1) the author struggles to make clear his view of the U.S. military in Iraq. Some passages in the book shower praise on them, while others offer nothing but harsh criticism. He says "I now had the utmost respect for all of them," then turns around and accuses them of being overly anxious killers. 2) The book feels like it was written in a hurry. The writing is high quality and intelligent, but the story feels rushed. Its almost as if the publisher tried to repackage an honest and in depth telling of one man's powerful experiences into a fast-paced, shoot 'em up, action thriller. This may account for #1. Anyway, I would recommend this book to anyone interested in military history, current events, or just plain fun.

I bought this book because I wanted to know what it was really like over in Iraq. I didn't want a 'Everything is great' right wing book or an 'America is evil' left wing book.
I really enjoyed Ashcroft's story. It's full of a great many details about the current situation in Iraq. Since he is a British civilian, (and not a soldier or lefty journalist) he was able to freely critique the American military. I found all of his observations pertinent and unbiased. He tells you very plainly what is and is not working in Iraq.
The main thing I took from this book is the amount of 'tribalism' in Iraq. EVERY single neighborhood EVERYWHERE in Iraq is it's own little tribe. Ashcroft explains how they distrust ALL outsiders, both the USA and al Qaida.

Capt. Ashcroft's telling of his accounts are amazing. It is fantastically written and packed with action. Also, it gives a different percpetive on events. A must read if you have loved ones in the contracting world. I give it 5+ stars!

I read a lot of military books and this is one of the best. Capt. Ashcroft has managed to weld action, suspense, humor and political insight into one great tale of modern military conflict. The gruesomeness and tension of life and combat in Iraq is compellingly told. In addition, there are extremely humerous portions that will have you laughing to the point of tears. One caution however: if you're a "Hank the Yank" that hasn't spent time in Great Britain, Australia, or Canada, beware of the "C" word. To me, it just added to the authenticity of the story. What do you think guys are saying to each other in combat situations - Aw shucks?

I would rate this book on par with Mark Bowden's "Black Hawk Down" - one of the best I've read.

First off, what can you say about a non-fiction book in which the first fire-fight is described I think beginning on page 25. If you want to know what real combat is like, get this book and read it. The author starts off being a typical bored commuter working a boring 9-5 job in the City of London. He gets a call from a friend from his military days, and the scene is funny because his wife is listening and pretending not to, and Ashcroft is trying not to reveal how dangerous the job will be. The scene is funny. The author is a very "hard" man (and I mean that as a complement), but also has that British sense of humor. I mean, how can you not have a sense of humor after what he goes through ? He actually tells friends in Iraq to shoot him in the head if they are about to be captured, to prevent him from "getting my head cut off on TV". Wow. This is a very hard book, but also funny and very insightful. I keep getting the "man among boys" view of the Iraq conflict. He describes this worldly older mercenaries from Britain and South Africa, coming up to checkpoints run by U.S. soldiers who, to the mercs, seem like kids. The way the U.S. Army "hoses down" areas in fire-fights is also insightful as to how it creates the insurgency and fuels it. The British army has a long tradition of fire control ("only aimed shots"), whereby the goal is to only fire when a target is acquired. This is a long tradition. Aside from the U.S. Marines, who also practice aimed shots ("one shot, one kill") and of course the U.S. Navy Seals (who are very, very good), the Army "hoses down" an area. The author mentions that the number of rounds fired per kill is 15,000 for the U.S. Army. Imagine how many civilians have been hit and killed in Iraq and then ask yourself what is keeping the insurgency alive.

I'm US Military and have done two tours in iraq, having talked with private contractors over there and for a time wanted to do the same as them, but decided to stay in the military, though I still have a interest in doing that sort of work...

Capt. Ashford gives a very, very interesting and insightful look into the world of private contractors, giving a sometimes very humerous account of his time in iraq to a sometimes very bleak look of things as they were when he was there.

From Capt. Ashford and his fellow englishman's hilarious banter and rivalry between themselves and their south arfican team-members, who's constant "ja ja..." always manages to bring a chuckle in true afrikaner style, to his own insights into going crazy at a office job and wanting to get back to what he did best and get into the action, to having to deal with their sometimes idiotic and highstrung clients and iraqi co-workers, this book is at times hilarious, at times dark and dismal, and at other times filled with action for any war junkie to enjoy.

People tend to look at people like Capt. Ashford as the dirty, evil mercenary who is willing to do anything for a buck, when infact most are family men with loving children, simply trying to support themselves and their families using the skills they learned in their military career's and putting them to applicable use.

People go to college or technical schools to learn the knowledge and gain the skills they need to get paying jobs in the real world, same as these men but they get the stereotype of blood-thirsty mercenaries.....strange how no one ever chastises the scientist or doctor who is suppose to help people with the skills they have and then goes off and bio-engineers diseases and chemical weapons, nuclear weapons, and weapons that can kill more in two minutes than these men could ever kill in a lifetime.....

My bantering asside, I highly reccommned this book to any and all interested in this aspect of the world we live in, the life of a private military contractor.

This book is the most damning indictment of the entire Iraq farce that I have read. Bush, Blair and their cohorts knew without a shred of doubt that Saddam Hussein never had weapons of mass destruction. The tragic war, the loss of life running into the thousands, pehaps hundreds of thousands, was it seems from Captain Ashcroft's precise account no more than a show of strength from men suffering personal weakness. It has left us with a more fragile and dangerous world where the line between the so-called Coalition and the bad guys is being held, not by our soldiers in uniform, but by Private Security Guards - Soldiers of Fortune being paid a fortune. War has finally been privatized. Was that the purpose in the first place? This is a valuable and important book that should be read by everyone who cares about the world we live in today.