Chris Ryan: How to Stay Safe in a Dangerous World, Stafford Gatehouse - review
Chris Ryan had been talking for what seemed like minutes when the Gatehouse compere stepped in.
"I think that’s a good spot for the interval," he interjected, just at the point where the SAS veteran was recalling being captured, with a gun pressed against the back of his head in either Syria or Iraq.
The difference was key, Chris had said.
"If it was Iraq, I was going to have to kill the captors to get out. If it was Syria, I’d be safe."
The tension, as he relayed the story in the MET Studio, was palpable. A proverbial pin could be heard if anyone had dared to drop one.
An interval? At this point? Yes, it’s a cliffhanger moment, but he’s only just started.
A quick glance at my watch proved otherwise. Chris had been speaking for an hour and a quarter.
The time had flown past as he recalled the ill-fated Bravo Two Zero mission in Iraq in 1991 and his incredible 190-mile escape on foot – still the longest escape and evasion in the history of the SAS.
Like so many real heroes, Chris Ryan is quiet and unassuming. Middle-aged now, but clearly in good shape, he looks unthreatening and would not stand out from the crowd. Which is just the way he wants it.
He delivers his story, without notes, backdrop or props in that matter-of-fact way the British military specialises in.
His tone when describing how he destroyed two enemy vehicles and ‘dispatched’ his pursuers rarely rises above the everyday.
And yet, as his later career as a novelist shows, he is a master storyteller.
The Iraq mission is what he had been trained for. The hardest training in the world with the SAS on the Brecon Beacons, jungles and some of the most inhospitable places on earth.
"In my time with the SAS, I went to 18 funerals; 17 of them were people killed on training," he says. "But if the training were a walk in the park, I’d be buried in Iraq right now."
His is an enthralling account of bad preparation (the patrol was given maps from 1955), bad communications and rotten bad luck.
But it is run through with incredible bravery, determination, rare humour and brutal honesty: "There were times when I sat and cried like a baby."
Once safety had been reached (he WAS in Syria after all) and the audience sat back from the edge of their seats, Chris gave tips from his latest book ‘Safe: How to stay safe in a dangerous world’.
Don’t run with the herd, find cover where you can, identify the danger and get as far away from it as possible were among the pearls of wisdom/common sense handed out.
It was a memorable night, as well as a pleasure and privilege to be in his company.
But you had to feel sorry for the volunteer plucked from the front row to help CR demonstrate how a simple pen could be used to nullify an attacker.
The ex-SAS man used only his little fingers in the restraining technique and asked – on a scale of one to 10 – how much it was hurting.
"Seven," replied the hardy volunteer.
"Be honest," said Ryan, tweaking up the pressure.
"Ok . . . nine."
