Death lurks in the sand

Kim Hughes holds the highest decoration among bomb disposal experts serving in the British Army. In 2009, after a highly demanding six-month deployment in Afghanistan, during which he defused 119 improvised explosive devices, he received the George Cross, the British medal for gallantry. Kim survived numerous Taliban ambushes and also endured a personal meeting with the British Defence Secretary. The book is set during the Afghan war, a conflict in which the cold-blooded courage of a bomb disposal expert took on national importance. In no other military role does an individual come so close to the enemy to fight a battle of wits where defeat means death. This is one of the finest memoirs detailing the efforts made to defeat a hidden and persistent enemy.

The Sunday Times newspaper listed it as a bestseller.