INTERVIEW / SAUL DAVID
“It was astonishing bravery – and cold-blooded bravery, too”
Rob Attar: Could we begin by discussing the genesis of this book? The story of how it came about is a little unusual.
Saul David: It’s very unusual. A couple of years ago I was contacted by my agent, who asked me if I would be interested in writing the authorised history of the Special Boat Service (SBS). And of course my initial reaction was: who wouldn’t? But the reason my agent asked me is that they also happened to represent Paddy Ashdown, who was a former member of the SBS and had been commissioned to write the book. Very sadly, Paddy died rather suddenly towards the end of 2018, before the book was finished. So the question was: what happens next? Does someone finish Paddy’s text or write a new version?
My agent approached me with both possibilities, and sent me the manuscript. It was very good but it was not what I would have written. Paddy came from the perspective of a practitioner – he was very close to the unit. His writing was very emotive, whereas I’ve always tried to keep an objective distance, as any historian does. Having read his early chapters, I decided it would make more sense to start from scratch. So we agreed that I would write the book in my own way, but would give due acknowledgement to Paddy in terms of the genesis.
This is an authorised history of a secretive organisation. How much access did you get? Were any aspects off limits?
They weren’t, actually. If
