Challenging the Beast cover art

Challenging the Beast

The Story of a Tank Crew at War

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Challenging the Beast

By: John Dingley
Narrated by: Alan Turton
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About this listen

This is story of a tank crew and troop in a modern war, a type of "Modern Fury” of Brad Pitt fame. The Gulf War of 1990-91 was probably the last major deployment of arms by the UK on such a scale and a larger gathering of armour than the Battle of Kursk in WW II.

This is a personal account of the Gulf War 1990-91 and the liberation of Kuwait and Operation Desert Storm / Operation Granby by a Troop Leader in a front line tank squadron; B Squadron The 14/20th Kings Hussars, 4th Armoured Brigade, 1 British Division. Forward by General Sir Richard Shirreff.

This is not a political or strategic study, but a look at the lives of the men who lived and fought on and from their tanks. It is a personal first hand account of the lives of soldiers in a desert war.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2016 John Dingley (P)2020 John Dingley Middle East Military Military & War

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Critic reviews

"No striving after heroics, none of the bull s--t so common among many war memoirs: Just good, plain down to Earth stuff devoid of modern "spin". I thought this an excellent read (John Hollands author of The Dead The Dying and The Damned)
All stars
Most relevant  
Found the book fascinating and very insightful into the operations and day to day lives of a troop leader!

Amazing listen!

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Great story, well remembered, written and read. Enjoyable and interesting, fascinating recount if life in the line of a tank crew in comparison to those led by crews in the second world war.

Great Story

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Fantastic book' really enjoyed the story of the tank soldiers and how they operate

The beast

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one of the best examples of a YO wartime memoirs, clear and well read

Memoirs of a Tank Troop commander

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If Flashman drove tanks, it would read a lot like this! Great stuff. Highly recommended.

Cracking good yarn!

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enjoyed this from start to finish. interesting, informative with some good old fashioned military humour. a book you can listen to many times over. the supporting PDF is also very good.

a great insight of a modern tank crew

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Having served as a soldier, I’m a big fan of the personal accounts of the squaddie on the ground, and this didn’t disappoint. The account is excellently narrated and deals with all the challenges of soldiering in the British army eg. Pointless tasks, equipment shortages and flaring tempers in pressure cooker environments. And of course the legendary squaddie humour….

Great account. Great narration

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As a soldier who served in the Gulf War, I recognise a lot of what is written in this book, and I highly recommend this to anybody who wants to understand what it is like to be a soldier in war.

Great book

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