Born Fearless: From Kids' Home to SAS to Pirate Hunter - My Life as a Shadow Warrior Paperback – October 17, 2019

I had the honor of meeting Phil at a recent UK event that reproduces UKSF selection marches and is staffed by ex-SAS and SBS. Some SF guys are very discrete (the "gray man" approach) while others are more ebullient. Phil is definitely in the latter category but like all people who've achieved hard things he's got his ego well under control. There's a huge difference between taking pleasure in telling a great story and just being a self-aggrandizing twat. Phil tells a great story. And he's also exactly the sort of man you want on your side when the brown stuff hits the rotating device.Unlike so many of the SAS "tell-all" books that have been written following the runaway success of B20, Phil doesn't really cover his experience of Selection (strictly speaking, "Special Forces Aptitude Test") nor any of his time in the SAS. Doubtless this saved a lot of hassle with the MoD and ensured that he could get his book into print without violating any written agreements barring serving and former UKSF personnel from disclosing anything about their time in their units. So instead he focuses on his childhood and his post-service career as a PMC.Some of us had childhoods that were far from ideal. But reading Phil's account of his childhood puts everything into perspective: the victim of near-constant abuse from everyone who should have been nurturing him, he was forced from an early age to develop the kinds of psychological and physical skills that later enabled him to excel in the military. At the same time, his self-reliant mentality meant that he never quite fit in with the regular Army's approach to life in uniform. While we may never be able to read about the operations Phil participated in as a blade, it is pretty apparent that he really comes into his own when running an embassy security team in Kabul right after the fall of the Taliban. Characteristically Phil's account focuses on the action and he doesn't build himself up in his account, yet reading between the lines it's pretty evident that not only did he create a world-class security team from scratch in highly adverse conditions but that his team was almost entirely the results of his own efforts. His combination of good drills, proper SOPs, and acutely developed "street smarts" enabled him to avoid making the mistakes other less experienced CP teams were making (and continue to make....).Phil is a raconteur and so the book jumps around in time and in tense. I rather suspect a lot of editing was required to take his initial draft and fashion a reasonably coherent flow of events. That said, the result is immensely readable and enjoyable and provides insight into the mentality of elite operators. While Hollywood is empty puff and what you see on screen will get you rapidly dead in real life, Phil's accounts give a sense of the degree to which even the best operators are subject to luck sometimes. He's also unstinting in his admissions about feeling real fear - despite the title, Phil is no emotion-free blowhard. His writing makes it clear that everyone, even the hardest men, feel fear and rightly so. Indeed, fear and its precursor are important combat indicators. Fearless warriors tend to die fast. The key is the difference between feeling fear and showing it. As Phil rightly notes, in a combat situation any display of fear is deadly. Immediate action keeps you breathing when the chips are down.Meeting Phil in real life, I was struck by how similar he was to another warrior I'd known years ago when I was training in various martial arts. Back then I briefly trained under Gary Spiers, a huge half-Maori who combined the same flair for story-telling with consummate physical prowess and utter commitment when required to fight. Gary fought on the UK karate team and worked as a security consultant; he had a wealth of anecdotes but just like Phil they were all about scrapes and getting through, not about puffing himself up or slapping himself on the back. Gary died several years back after a colorful life; hopefully Phil will go on to enjoy his old age. I'm sure his grand-children would love to hear his many stories.For the rest of us, if you're only going to read one "military" book this year, make it Born Fearless. The title's misleading, the stories therein are definitely spot-on.

Fantastic read. Excellent stories and background from the author. Language is very 'squaddie' which gives a great overall feel to the book

I have developed an interest in the British SAS lately this book is written by a former SAS Soldier an author who is now a civilian contractor of Afghanistan or Iraq etc. like a commando it is edgy, fast paced with cover to cover adrenaline pumping activity. Big Phil reminds me of an intelligent American Trucker or UK Lorry. Well written and worth a read.

Book came without the cover. That was not expected. Content was alright.

Great book. Gives a great perspective of things from a British commando's point of view. Phil Campion's writing style is great. There are points in the book that had me laughing out loud. His approach to handling dangerous situations without panicking or freaking out speaks of the rare qualities these guys have that few (including myself) people possess. A refreshing change of pace from the other books I have read about the American special forces.

From the moment go this thing blew me away, I couldn't put this book down and was on the edge of my seat the entire time. very disappointed when I finished reading.

The book story is marvellous, possibly as all books written by Phil Campion. The story keeps evolving till the end.

A journey from kids homes to army and then into private security. A really good book that was well written.