Soldier Five

SOLDIER FIVE is an elite soldier's memoir of his time within the Special Air Service (SAS) and, in particular, his experiences during the Gulf War. As a member of the Special Forces patrol now famously known by its call sign Bravo Two Zero, he and seven others were inserted hundreds of kilometres behind enemy lines. Their mission was to reconnoitre targets, undertake surveillance of Scud missile sites and sabotage Iraqi communications links, but was to end in desperate failure.From the outset the patrol was dogged by problems that contributed both directly and indirectly to the demise of the mission. The patrol's compromise, and subsequent attempts to evade Iraqui troops, resulted in four members of Bravo Two Zero being captured and a further three killed. One escaped. But the story goes further than the Gulf War itself. Despite numerous books, films and articles on the same subject, the British Government has done its utmost to thwart the release of Soldier Five, at one stage claiming the book in its entirety was confidential. A campaign of harassment that took some four-and-a-half years of litigation to resolve has now resulted in this explosive publication. SOLDIER FIVE is a gripping and suspenseful account of one man's experiences as a Special Forces soldier. Revealing his conflicts, loyalties and relationships forged, it is the resolution of a soldier's determined fight to see his story told.

The one-act plays in this collection were first performed in the inaugural presentation of the New Plays Festival at Gardner-Webb University in 2003. The Festival is an initiative of the theater program at GWU dedicated to developing new plays and encouraging early-career playwrights. DUELality is an historical parody of the famous Hamilton-Burr duel. Milking Success details the eccentricities of two success-ridden filmmakers. The Cure is a riotous "battle of the sexes" where nirvana reigns over reason. Social Etiquette is an absurd farce about a dysfunctional family living in a closet. The End of the Road is an existential comedy about two travelers who have been everywhere and seen everything. Six Soldier Junction (the editor's own play) is a serious exploration of the experiences of six American soldiers in the first Gulf War. The mounting of this postmodern play corresponded with the American invasion of Iraq, proving its timeliness.

This fascinating account, envisages as a virtual film, Alexander the Great's early life tracing events from his birth, through to his boyhood and thence to the brink of manhood. He inherited his father Philip's military brilliance and his mother's beauty and passion, and cunning aptitude for manipulating his contemporaries into performing his bidding. It gives the reader an engrossing insight into what life was like two thousand four hundred years ago. The beliefs and achievements of Alexander the Great are more relevant to our overcrowded and stressed world of today than at any time since he died. Alexander believed in the essential brotherhood of human beings; that we are divided only by our culture. This belief would stand us all in good stead in solving the problems of today's world.