The Forgotten Land

Review "If you're expecting the usual formulaic military novel, look somewhere else. The Forgotten Land serves up a totally different take on the modern warrior." - Nathan Mullins, author of "Keep Your Head Down"."You won't relax, but you'll enjoy the ride." - Dave Sabben MG, author of "Through Enemy Eyes"."Keith McArdle's The Forgotten Land takes a squad of Aussie SAS troopers across the millennia from a cave in Iraq to a cold, wet, windswept Norse landscape - and from a major 21st Century conflict to Iron-Age survival. The narrative is easy to digest and hard to put down." CONTACT Air, Land & Sea Magazine Product Description Sergeant Steve Golburn, an Australian Special Air Service veteran, is tasked with a dangerous mission in Iraq, deep behind enemy lines. When Steve’s five man SAS patrol inadvertently spark a time portal, they find themselves in 10th century Viking Denmark. A place far more dangerous and lawless than modern Iraq. Join the SAS patrol on this action adventure into the depths of not only a hostile land, far away from the support of the Allied front line, but into another world…another time. From the Author I have always had two great passions, the Australian Special Air Service Regiment (SASR), and the Vikings. First, let's look at the Vikings: The Vikings are a severely misunderstood race of people. Yes, some were violent, yes, some of them did undertake lightning raids on all and sundry. But that time of history was a violent time, a time where tribes, clans and countries were often at war with one another. The Vikings' mark on our history is tainted mainly by the biased, literate Christian scholars that remember them in their writings. Today, modern historians and archaeologists are working very hard to shed light upon who the Vikings actually were. We know, for instance, that a Viking woman had the right to divorce her husband if she had grounds. We also know that the advice of a warrior's wife was usually heeded and often sought. Women in some areas of the world in 2012 do not enjoy that level of respect! The Vikings were also very cunning and intelligent traders, so much so, that present day York, which in Viking times was called Jorvik (pronounced Yorvik (from which the present day name is derived)) was, during the Viking reign, the trade centre of the world. The Vikings were a very colourful, sophisticated and rich culture. Oh, and they did not wear horned helmets! Now the Aussie SAS: The Australian SASR (Special Air Service Regiment) are an elite group of Australian soldiers. When the war in Afghanistan started, people might remember an offensive called Operation Anaconda. When that operation commenced, the Aussie SAS moved well forward of the advancing allied troops and set up hides or observation posts (OPs) underneath the noses of the Taliban. They fed back all sorts of information to the American head sheds, including enemy number, weapons, level of morale, locations and so on. When the fighting began, the Australian SASR were in a position to guide in airstrikes and give grid references for artillery and mortar fire missions. In another instance in Afghanistan an Australian SAS soldier was shot by Taliban fire. Rather then bother his mates who were still engaged in heavy fighting with the enemy, he managed to make his way to the closest vehicle. Knowing that he was losing enough blood that he may lose consciousness, treated the wound as best he could and then wedged himself between the bulbar and the vehicle's radiator. He did this so that if the coalition patrol were to make a rapid fighting withdrawal, then the Aussie's withdrawal would not have been slowed by carrying him and then securing him in the vehicle. There is something about these incredible soldiers that has always intrigued me. Every country in the world has a small elite group like the Australian SAS. They are for the most part, quiet, easy going, never consider themselves any better than the next bl