{"id":1439,"date":"2015-02-02T10:42:56","date_gmt":"2015-02-02T10:42:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/blog\/?p=1439"},"modified":"2015-04-15T13:41:35","modified_gmt":"2015-04-15T13:41:35","slug":"former-soldier-mcnab-loves-a-good-story-like-mamma-mia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/?p=1439","title":{"rendered":"Warrior Andy McNab loves a good story like ‘Mamma Mia’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Andy-McNab_2076795a\"<\/a><\/p>\n

By Ray Bennett<\/p>\n

Things you might know about Andy McNab: He was a highly decorated SAS soldier; he wrote the bestselling \u201cBravo Two Zero\u201d about his time in combat in the Gulf War; and he writes action thrillers, the latest of which is titled “The New Enemy”.<\/p>\n

Things you might not<\/em> know about Andy McNab: He has been\u00a0married several times; he loves films like \u201cMamma Mia!\u201d and \u201cLittle Miss Sunshine\u201d; and he enjoys watching Fox News because it makes him laugh.<\/p>\n

McNab (a pseudonym required for security reasons) became famous as a soldier but today he prefers to think of himself as a storyteller. The former SAS man retired in 1993 and\u00a0became a writer and documentarian. In a two-disc DVD titled \u201cAndy McNab\u2019s Tour of Duty\u201d, the former warrior goes back to the battlefront to tell real-life tales about what it\u2019s like to face the enemy.<\/p>\n

\"Tour<\/a>McNab used his experience and familiarity with all kinds of warfare to describe in detail how things really happened. It’s thrilling stuff but also well balanced between recollections and analysis so that it appeals not only to fans of derring-do but those with a genuine interest in real-life stories of warfare.<\/p>\n

It was because of McNab the soldier that men and women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan sent him letters and clips about things they\u2019d seen and done. It was McNab the storyteller who convinced the Ministry of Defence (MOD) that it would be a great idea to build them into a TV series and eventual DVD.<\/p>\n

He says, \u201cThey send me all this UGC (user generated content) and some of it is awful, either really graphic or you can\u2019t see anything. But some is really good. But there was a big problem with the MOD not only over censorship but also the question of who owns it. Is it Crown copyright, or does it belong to the individuals?\u201d<\/p>\n

Not least because of his service record and good reputation, McNab resolved the issues and \u201cTour of Duty\u201d features material sent in along with footage shot by MOD camera teams and interviews with those involved in the events related.<\/p>\n

\"Bravo-Two-Zero-dvd<\/a>He says, \u201cI go to Basra and Afghanistan to do research and write articles, I get invitations from some of the units and a lot of the guys running units these days I know anyway from my time. Sometimes it\u2019s difficult getting the lads talking but once you kick \u2018em off, they don\u2019t stop.\u201d<\/p>\n

He admits that he leads a strange life now between such visits and travelling as a novelist and lecturer: \u201cI\u2019m in the middle of the desert in Afghanistan, sitting in a tin drum, and then I\u2019m suddenly at the Four Seasons in New York.”<\/p>\n

Being with professional soldiers on a regular basis, however, means that the author must stay up to snuff with his basic training: \u201cI\u2019m under pressure the minute I get there. I have to demonstrate that I still have the skills otherwise I\u2019ll look like a right git. In one of the episodes in the series, I\u2019m there on the range firing a sniper rifle from 900 metres. If I miss, that\u2019s it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, he says he finds it great fun and is proud of the men and women who serve: \u201cWithout doubt now, the British infantry is the best equipped and most professional it\u2019s ever been. In the series, it\u2019s just about trying to show that these guys are like everyone else. In Britain, we\u2019re not as much of a martial country as think we are. You very rarely see a soldier on the streets. We\u2019ve lost a bit of that. This tribe, this army, we don\u2019t really know them. These guys do extraordinary things but they\u2019re ordinary people.\u201d<\/p>\n

McNab is critical of British media for failing to cover military action and crime as they should: \u201cIt\u2019s the most sanitised media in the UK and the US. The Italians had some lads killed in Afghanistan and they showed a lot more about it than we get. Not dead soldiers, but you see bloodstains and wrecked vehicles. We\u2019d just get a little report. We\u2019re slightly detached from these things.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>When he looks for entertainment, however, while the former warrior has seen the \u201cRambo\u201d films, his greatest interest is in good stories: \u201cI saw \u2018Mamma Mia!\u2019 and I loved it. I thought \u2018Juno\u2019 was terrific. These are just fantastic stories. You see something like \u2018Little Miss Sunshine\u2019 and you wonder, how did they think of that? It\u2019s a lovely bit of storytelling. We watched \u2018Mad Men\u2019 and you think, well, it\u2019s just about advertising guys but the stories are so good. We put it on and watched it all until 4 o\u2019clock in the morning!\u201d<\/p>\n

McNab stays away from politics in \u201cTour of Duty\u201d as he prefers to focus on what goes on rather than why. He says he watches Fox News because he finds it funny but prefers Jon Stewart\u2019s \u201cDaily Show\u201d.<\/p>\n

He travels a lot and keeps his location as well as his identity under wraps. He\u2019s spent time in Los Angeles but doesn\u2019t think he could live there. He lived in Cannes for a time but used to get annoyed when the festivals and markets came to town and all the restaurants raised their prices: \u201cI used to think, \u2018Get over yourselves!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

But he loves being in London where he grew up in the eastern part of the city. He remains a Millwall supporter but he had a surprise on a visit to the area and the old soldier won out over the storyteller: \u201cI saw a poster for the club that was all about how it was great for families. I endorse the sentiment, “but I thought, \u2018Hang on, that\u2019s not Millwall!\u201d<\/p>\n

This article appeared in the November 2008 edition of Cue Entertainment. For his latest works see the Andy McNab website<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Ray Bennett Things you might know about Andy McNab: He was a highly decorated SAS soldier; he wrote the bestselling \u201cBravo Two Zero\u201d about his time in combat in the Gulf War; and he writes action thrillers, the latest … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,6,15],"tags":[56,262,330],"class_list":["post-1439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","category-interviews","category-television","tag-brute-force","tag-tour-of-duty","tag-andy-mcnab"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1439"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1439\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7170,"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1439\/revisions\/7170"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}