CONTACT

An engrossing, lyrical look at the life of a British officer during two tours of duty in Northern Ireland during the 1970s, Contact by AFN Clarke (@AFNClarke) reminded me in many ways of two of my all-time favorite books, one fiction and one non-fiction but both centered on Vietnam: Michael Herr's classic Dispatches and Fields of Fire by James Webb.As a platoon leader in the elite Paratroop Regiment -- the Paras -- Clarke served in Belfast in 1973 and South Armagh, close on the border with the Republic of Ireland, in 1976. The operational environment of each posting war very different -- one urban, crowded with warring factions who agreed on little but a hatred of the Paras; the other, seemingly bucolic farmland masking nearly unlimited routes of infiltration and escape for the enemy -- but the fear of sudden death or maiming injury by explosion or bullet were very much the same.Writing with fluid and light prose, Clarke sweeps the reader up into the day-to-day life of a British soldier in Northern Ireland: "The incompetence of the commanders; the insanity of our orders, and the surrealism of being an occupation Army on home soil." You won't find any pronouncements about which side is right or wrong but there is plenty of fear, sweat and some tears, frustration, mind-numbing boredom and a few laughs.Be warned: if you haven't served in a military unit, some of the humor may escape you. Don't let that be an excuse not to read Contact, just know it in advance. There is something unusual forged in the furnace that is the military, something that often doesn't translate well to those who haven't shared the experience.Another thing: to someone in the year 2013 the conduct of Mr. Clarke and his soldiers may appear unduly harsh, brutal even. To be sure, both sides of the conflict are treated the same, but there is undeniably a tendency to freely use the baton. Know the context. One step outside the cobbled-together fortifications of their too-small bases, Clarke and his men were targets for attack by any number of enemies and in any number of ways including car and pipe bombs, landmines, snipers, ambushes, and mortars. The little old lady from either side of the conflict bringing you tea and cakes will also pump you for information that could be used to kill you later.The author does an excellent job of describing how this environment influenced his decisions, which in most cases was to fall back on his training. With the benefit of our experience in Iraq, US military training today includes Counter-Insurgency Operations (COIN) but in the Cold War-era things were different. Elite combat forces like the Paras were trained to attack the enemy, violently and with the intent to destroy, to seize the initiation and in doing so to keep the enemy off balance. Fine and proven to succeed on the battlefield, but in a murky sectarian conflict like Northern Ireland such tactics frequently ran counter to political calls for "reconciliation." Remember the context.This edition restores passages of the book that the previous publisher wanted removed from the author's initial manuscript. These passages dealt with Mr. Clarke's severe medical issues, which first appear near the end of his South Armagh posting. Clarke nearly died as a result of the inaction and incompetence of British military medical personnel; a situation too many military personnel will relate to. I suppose the earlier publisher wanted to keep the focus on Northern Ireland, but the author's illness and eventual recovery was just as compelling to this reader.One final note: there were several instances of typo or format errors in my copy, perhaps as a result of the eBook conversion by the new publisher or after rewrites in preparation for the new edition. These may have been fixed later. I normally wouldn't mention this in a review but I know some take exception and therefore allow typos or grammatical issues to influence their experience. I strongly urge readers to ignore any such issues and focus instead on the narrative. Don't lose out on a great story, and this is a great story.

It was interesting reading Capt Clarke's perspective of his two tours in Northern Ireland. He described what it was like and how the troops adapted to the conditions by shedding their normal personalities and assuming a cold, hard and sometimes brutal demeanor. As in most wars (although this was not officially classified as a war), politicians sending young men into combat for political reasons without much concern for either side of the issue. Good reading for anyone thinking that it's good to use troops in a policing action.

This is a quite obscure book for U.S. audiences that tells a part of the story of The Troubles. The perspective is a platoon commander in 3 PARA in the 70s. Worth seeking out for young officers and those interested in counterinsurgency at the knife edge.

I give this 5* because it is good non-fiction. It gives great insights into the lives of ordinary soldiers in Northern Ireland during "The Troubles." It's no hooah, hooah novel but shows the real price soldiers pay in enforcing political policy. The writer is permanently disabled due to his service but the British Government is not giving him what is due.

This book was problematic and hard to get through. As it treats an admittedly difficult and ongoing struggle, it cannot be light and breezy. However, the self-pitying, almost whining tenor of the informer, while providing good insight into the sad situation, is mired in repetitive personal neediness.

Maybe it wasn't called a war, but it certainly was one. Just look at the cover: that's "home" to a group of British soldiers. That wire around the building is there for good reason, to keep the odd bomb from blowing them up. Brutal and realistic. It was no fun for anyone involved. I'm glad I wasn't there. Well written.

This book approaches the realities of war rather than the glories and heroics. He tells the truth about the fears, the questionable moralities of war itself and strips bare the thoughts of a soldier on the front lines.

Clarke doesn't pull any punches in describing the incompetence of military brass and the senseless waste of energy and lives that is the whole Northern Ireland fiasco. Brits get out! His ablilty to paint a vivid picture of the awfulness of the lives of the ordinary soldier is excellent. He really had me right there with him and it wasn't very nice. A rivetting read I recommend highly.

This is a very realistic and accurate portrayal of what it was like to serve in Northern Ireland in the 1970s.I served with the Light Infantry in Belfast in the Ardoyne 1972 and in South Armagh at Cross in 1973.Both my tours bear a very close resemblance to Tony Clarkes experience of his tours in Belfast and Crossmaglen. He captures the danger, tension and futility of young infantry soldiers patrolling in Belfast and South Armagh, with infrequent contacts, ambushes and firefights with the Provisional IRA. He also accuratley captures the day to day bullshit, tactical ineptitude and poor decisions made by some senior commanders during the 4 month tours and the constant boredom and lack of sleep that ordinary soldiers had to deal with. It is a very well written, honest and powerful memoir of his time in Northern Ireland that mirrors my own experience very closely. In my view the best book written by a soldier who served in Northern Ireland during the 1970s which were the really dangerous and difficult years. Like Tony Clarke and the Paras, my Regiment the 1st Battalion Light Infantry lost soldiers during both tours in Belfast and Crossmaglen to snipers and bombs. Reading this memoir brings it all back to me and I can picture Belfast and Cross even now in my head as it was in 1972 and 73. We always considered the Paras as a tough and aggressive breed but who may not have been trained ideally for a peacekeeping role in Northern Ireland. Bloody Sunday probably showed that, though the Paras 3rd Battalion and Tony Clarke were not involved in that tragedy. The book though is a very accurate and personal account of what it was like to be a Para and soldier in the Ardoyne in Belfast and in Cross in 1972 and 73, and the descriptions of carrying out patrols, house searches and vehicle check points in an urban and rural setting whilst constantly on the lookout for snipers, ambushes and roadside bombs is very gripping. On reflection I think that at times the Paras were a bit heavy handed in the way that they handled house searches and civil disorder in Belfast in the 1970s in comparison to the way my Regiment operated and behaved. I think we were a bit more restrained and disciplined in our modus operandi, until we were forced to engage with the Provos in ambushes, firefights and gun battles. Anyway as a military memoir it is excellent and highly recommended for portraying the reality and danger of what it was like as a soldier to serve in Northern Ireland. Well worth reading and well done Tony Clarke.

Having life's in the area in Belfast I can vouch for the authenticity of this book relating to Belfast. My wife lived about 50 yards from the Leopold Street Police Station. Regarding Crossmaglen and Fonthill on our trips to Dublin we had to ensure that we were past Bandit Country before dark on our return to Belfast.Go, Paras, Go.

While the book provides interesting snippets of what life was at platoon level while deployed in Northern Ireland in the 70's I take the author's claims with a large grain of salt. Anyone who has served in the military will see the author as disloyal to his chain of command, a hot head, overly familiar with his subalterns and not one who helped the British Army with their "hearts and minds" campaign in NI. There are much better books on the topic on the market.

Short, sharp sentences make for a fast paced storyline.This is essentially a collection of the writer's own thoughts and a description of some of the activities he was involved in.A very frank and honest account.

A few months ago I was a guest speaker at a `Peace & Reconciliation' conference hosted by the Tim Parry Peace Centre in Warrington. Various figures from the military were there to speak about our experiences of serving in Northern Ireland at different stages of the conflict; I was there to discuss how it felt in the very end stages, when 'The Troubles' had all but petered out. But by far our most illuminating guest and powerful speaker was a former Parachute Regiment Captain and author, AFN Clarke - which brings me to the purpose of this review.In 1983 Tony wrote Contact, a blisteringly honest and deeply controversial account of his two tours in NI at the very height of the troubles in the 1970s. Contact rapidly achieved cult status amongst the rank & file of the army, won critical acclaim from prestigious reviewers and at the same time drew stinging criticism from the retired Brigadiers & Colonels establishment brigade - which usually means you're doing something right because you've got them rattled. As the saying goes: "You judge a man by the strength of his enemies." Well Tony gained plenty; not least of all in the highest ranks of the MOD and politics - so much so that a smear campaign was launched against him and he was forced to defend his name with aggression and grit. The attacks only strengthened him and Contact was immediately made into an award-winning BBC film.Tony went on to live in America where he built a new career as a Pilot, Yaught Charter Captain for hire and general all-round adventurer. If ever you have the privilege of meeting him you'll instantly recognise the classic `rebellious officer' streak that runs right through him and so irritated his former paymasters. But maddeningly for them he was undeniably a gifted soldier; he joined 3 Para as a Private `Tom', made Lance Corporal within a year and was commissioned from the ranks after just two; a difficult task in today's army but damn near impossible in the class ridden 70s - unless you were very, very good. And he was.Contact deals with his first tour in Belfast in 1973 and his second tour in South Armagh in 1976, before culminating in his tragic and premature medical discharge from the army as a 28yr old Captain with his entire brilliant future cruelly ripped away from him. During his first tour the temporarily `friendly' locals spiked his tea with ground glass as he drank it on hearts & minds patrols, which resulted in internal organ failure, the removal of his entire bowel region and the almost complete ruination of his health. He soldiered on for six long years passing glass shards and undergoing a dozen operations, before his body finally gave in and literally half of his belly was removed. It was only his previous dogged fitness and determination that kept him in the army and on his feet for so long. Of course, he fought back and went on to climb mountains and fly planes, but all the time since he's carried a permanent pain and dreadful scars.But the pride, fierce glint in the eyes and inner steel remains...It felt a little odd at the Warrington peace talks because some anti-war types and `Troops Out' members were there and they clearly had strong feelings about British soldiers. And there was Tony, sat there with injuries that they couldn't imagine, this hard-as-nails former Para, and he was cool as a cucumber, effortlessly batting away their attacks with genuine warmth, humour and compassion. He'd seen more action than everyone in that room put together and paid the highest price, yet he was the calmest, most graceful and forgiving one there. It was inspiring stuff and a lesson in how to handle yourself when you're getting it from all sides.At the moment Tony is rewriting and updating Contact to take in the aftermath of his own service, that of his former colleagues and his own assessment and true feelings about the peace process - something that I know he's a great supporter of, however painful NI was and continues to be for him. I can't recommend his book highly enough to you - truly it's a superb, timely read - especially in light of the recent deaths in NI and roadblocks that seem to constantly block the path to peace. I think too that it's an important and hugely relevant book in that we seem to be bogged down in an eerily similar `terrorist War' in Afghanistan, and there are lessons and parallel conclusions to be drawn for our military involvement `out there'.Certainly I reckon that any young Squaddie going on his first tour abroad would get a hell of a lot from this book, because for me it was an object lesson in how to treat and interact with the locals; they're never going to be your friends and they'll never accept your presence, but if you at least treat them with a modicum of tact, diplomacy and discretion (whenever you safely can), then a wary tolerance and fragile mutual respect can sprout. Which is a damn sight better than the alternative...Contact is one of the best military stories that I have ever read and I recommend it to you in the highest terms; it's a book from a past conflict that has timely and resonant lessons for a present one.Steven McLaughlin,Author of Squaddie: A Soldier's StoryMainstream Publishing