Frank Gardner - Blood & Sand

REVIEW BY MAGGIE PERKOVIC ON SHOW 10TH MARCH

FRANK GARDNER HAS LONG BEEN ADMIRED AS A MIDDLE EAST EXPERT AND WORKED FOR THE BBC
AS SUCH FOR QUITE A FEW YEARS. HOWEVER THIS WAS AFTER AN INTERESTING LIFE
WHERE HE GREW UP LONGING TO STUDY THE MIDDLE EAST AFTER MEETING THE EXPLORER
SIR WILFRED THESIGER A FRIEND OF HIS DIPLOMATIC CORPS PARENTS.

HE STUDIED IN EGYPT AND MADE IT HIS BUSINESS TO LIVE WITH ORDINARY FAMILIES, TO SPEND TIME WITH THE DESERT BEDU, WHOSE LIVES WERE BEING RUINED BY THE OIL RUSH, WITH PEOPLE IN THE OMAN A BACKWARD SULTANATE THAT LATER BECAME TRANSFORMED INTO A RELATIVELY MODERN COUNTRY WITH SCHOOLS, HOSPITALS AND ROADS. HE THOUGHT THAT HIS EXPLORER HERO PREFERRED THE OMANIS TO REMAIN unspoiled" RATHER THAN ADVANCE TO A BETTER STANDARD OF LIVING, SOMETHING THAT FRANK, VERY MUCH A MAN OF
PRINCIPLE ALWAYS ADVOCATED!!!

HE JOINED THE BBC IN 1999 AS MIDDLE EAST CORRESPONDENT IN CAIRO AND WAS A BUSY
AND HARD WORKING CONTRIBUTOR TO THE NEWS. BEFORE THAT HE HAD BEEN IN DUBAI AND HAD ALSO RELEASED AND WENT ON TO TAKE PART IN THE KIDNAPPING OF WALL STREET REPORTER DANIEL PEARL WHO WAS LATER BEHEADED ON CAMERA. THE MAIN PART OF THE BOOK IS HIS LIFE, AS A BANKER IN THE MIDDLE EAST BEFORE BECOMING A JOURNALIST AND A CORRESPONDENT FOR BBC.

THEN HE TELLS OF HIS ATTACK AND HORRIFIC SHOOTING, WHERE HIS CAMERA MAN WAS KILLED. HE TELLS HOW HE HAD A BAD FEELING ABOUT THAT ASSIGNMENT IN RYADH BUT DECIDED TO FINISH AS SOON AS POSSIBLE (IT WAS SPEAKINQ TO SAUDI AUTHORITIES ABOUT THEIR COMBATING THE AL QAEDA INSPIRED TERROR CELLS.)

A YOUNG MAN APPROACHED FRANK AND SAID IN ARABIC "PEACE BE UPON YOU" WHO REPLIED
IN ARABIC "AND UPON YOU THE PEACE AND MERCY OF GOD AND HIS BLESSINGS", THE MAN PAUSED, AND THEN REACHING INTO HIS ROBE TOOK OUT A GUN AND SHOT HIM, AS HE RAN AWAY, HE SHOT HIM AGAIN BRINGING HIM DOWN, AS HE LAY ON HIS FRONT SOME MORE GUNMAN SURROUNDED HIM AND FIRED AGAIN PUMPING BULLETS INTO HIS PELVIS, SACRAL BONES,
AND CAUSING THE IMMEASURABLE HARM TO HIS INTERNAL ORGANS. HE FEIGNED DEATH WHILE THEY
CROWDED AROUND, THEN THEY ROBBED HIM AND LEFT.

HE WAS AS NEAR DEATH AS HE COULD BE BUT TRIED TO KEEP CONCIOUS AS HE SAID FOR HIS FAMILY. FINALLY THE POLICE ARRIVED AND REMOVED HIM TO HOSPITAL, HE LATER LEARNED SIMON HAD DIED IMMEDIATELY, THE DRIVER HAD ESCAPED.

THE LAST PART OF THE BOOK DEALS IN HIS RECOVERY, HIS COMING TO TERMS WITH HIS
NOW BEING IN A WHEELCHAIR, HIS TERRIBLE INJURIES AND THE FACT THAT ALL HE EVER
WANTED TO DO WAS TO REPORT FAIRLY ON LIFE IN THE MIDDLE EAST, HOW HE RECEIVED
SO MANY LETTERS AND PRESENTS AND APOLOGIES AFTER HE WAS SHOT, AND HOW HE REALISES HISLIFE OF FLYING ALL OVER THE WORLD FOR A STORY IS NOW GONE FOR EVER.

HE PRAISES THE BBC FOR THEIR SUPPORT, HIS WIFE AND TWO DAUGHTERS FOR THEIR LOVE AND HE STILL HAS AN ENDURING LOVE FOR THAT TURBULENT REGION THAT HE LIVED IN FOR SO LONG.
IF YOU READ THIS BOOK, YOU LEARN A LOT MORE BELIEVE ME
REVIEW BY MAGS