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A Handful of Hard Men
- The SAS and the Battle for Rhodesia
- Narrated by: Jack Chekijian
- Length: 12 hrs and 17 mins
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A Handful of Hard Men
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Summary
It is difficult to find another soldier's story to equal Captain Darrell Watt's in terms of time spent on the field of battle and challenges faced. Even by the lofty standards of the SAS and Special Forces, one has to look far to find anyone who can match his record of resilience and valor in the face of such daunting odds and with resources so paltry.
In the fight, he showed himself to be a military maestro. A bush-lore genius, blessed with uncanny instincts and an unbridled determination to close with the enemy, he had no peers as a combat-tracker (and there was plenty of competition). But the Rhodesian theater was a fluid and volatile one in which he performed in almost every imaginable fighting role.
After 12 years in the cauldron of war, his cause slipped from beneath him, and Rhodesia gave way to Zimbabwe. When the guns went quiet, Watt had won all his battles but lost the war. In this fascinating biography, we learn that in his twilight years, he is now concerned with saving wildlife on a continent where they are in continued danger and devoting himself to both the fauna and African people he cares so deeply about.
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What listeners say about A Handful of Hard Men
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jay Grady
- 20-11-18
A brilliant insight into this conflict.
FIRST OFF - NARRATION. Not the best but much better when played at x1.25 speed playback. Much improved after I did this, played at x1.0 I nearly deleted it. So not the narrators fault. As with most military books you hope the narrator is taught how to pronounce terms correctly but these can vary from country to country so again it's not the narrators fault if they don't match 100% to the 'norm' you're used to. A recent read focused on Vietnam -1937-1979 had the narrator calling helo's as 'Hello's' and the city of Hue (pronounced 'Whey') as Hooey!
Excellent background and historic point of view from the Rhodesian side. It's definitely candid, and lifted the lid on the behaviour from some UK politicians, who have since risen to the highest levels as nothing more the the worst kind of bigots and opportunists, and it goes without saying, imperialists.
Putting the political aspects to one side (I'll be searching for further reading on this) the stories of danger and camaraderie are captivating, written with emotion and exciting all at the same time. Never a glorification of war, these guys were fighting for a cause and were committed to the highest level of sacrifice.
The book really sets the scene for post colonial Africa and the politics and subterfuge sadly set the standard for African leadership, on the whole, up to this day and the interests of outside governments have generally enriched the rich and manipulated the masses to their own ends.
100% recommend as a book but remember to adjust the speed of the audio!!
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Gordon
- 11-08-18
Narrator
unfortunately the narrator Jack Chekijian reading was rather stilted and did not flow and his pronunciation of names and places was not well researched or practised.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Justin Smith
- 28-12-22
Rhodesians never die
The narration was somewhat monotonous, however, the stories were very interesting though.
Politics sucks, and being an Englishman, i am once again disgusted at the treachery of the British government.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 05-04-24
Great story historical note.
this is the tale of the missing squadron or bat “C“22 Sas. I was watching to serve 22 Sas through this time on the league then as I do now it is a shame that the regiment did not support squadron. The book and the tale of Adele is letdown badly by, in my opinion, very poor narration dictation and pronunciation. In fact, I actually thought it was artificial intelligence narrator. The male squadron I can but slipped and reveal your memory
B And D. Squadron 1975/1983.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Andy
- 13-06-23
Disappointed
Disappointing book. Hard to follow at times and strangely written. Good account of an awful war.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 22-04-24
Action packed
Skill sets that may be lost, and were wasted. I hope these men are cared for now, they have so much
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- ross davidson
- 05-09-18
Amazing
Amazing book
Real heroes, who don't get the recognition they deserve.
Certain governments and people have a lot to answer for one day.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- PB
- 02-12-18
Great story. Awful narration.
It is a really interesting read about heroic fighting men, and the not so heroic politicians of the day. The narration is truly awful, carried out in an American accent, mispronouncing many words, and losing a lot of the soldiers dark humour. Why a British, or even a South African narrator could not be found is a complete mystery to me as in the present form, the audio book is ruined?
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 17-02-21
Hopeless narrator
Great stories. Really gives a good idea of what it was like. I was born in Rhodesia and the thoughts and beliefs of the people comes through here. The Rhodesians were tough buggers.
What i find incrediblle is how Johannes writes a good book and then lets this narrator ( with no clue how to pronounce many words from Rhodesia ) make such an aweful reading.
Even more incredible is that hes a narrator!
Anyway - i listened to the complete book. Its good
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 24-06-20
Drone
I’m sure this book would be very, very informative but I find the narrators voice soooo boring. He just drones and I find my mind wandering. It’s such a shame because I was very interested in this story.
I don’t understand why an American is narrating a book about the British Special forces?
I am always astounded that military people don’t proof listen to these books. Not once have I heard caz-e-vac pronounced correctly.
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