FREEFALL. Hardcover – Import, January 1, 1998

Great read. The man led an interesting life.

Being a former soldier, and reading the synopsis of a book called Freefall by Tom Read, I was very interested in seeing what he had to say on the matter. Mr. Read was preparing to freefall more than 23 miles in order to become the first person to break the sound barrier unassisted, but that’s only half of the story. The autobiography also covers his descent into madness and his attempts to find his way out again. His toughness, bravery and frank narrative made the book utterly absorbing and helped me to gain an insight into an individuals condition and thought process during the descent. It also provides hope that breaking free from the shackles of depression is entirely possible. As soon as I finished the book, I Googled the author to see if I could find our how his recovery was going. Sadly, he jumped out of a small plane he was flying over the Oxfordshire countryside at five thousand feet, without a parachute. Mr. Read didn’t make it, but he inspired me to help and work through the illness with the people I knew, and I suspect he’s also helped many others with his harrowing tale.

I followed up this book after reading Andy McNab's book on his SAS troop. Ultimately, this is a very sad story, and a true one at that, because 'Tom' ends up taking his own life by free-falling out of a plane without a parachute. What made this elite SAS soldier do this? Tom, himself, describes experiencing psychosis, a condition which he had to be incarcerated for. There is no doubt that this is an honest life story, because it takes guts to publicly share this sort of stuff. Andy McNab, in his book, surmises something more akin to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. There seems no doubt that depression played a large part in the equation. What is clear is that Tom was a fun-loving, humorous, talented man, who was a freefall world champion and who had made it into the best-of-the-best of soldiering, as well as being a family man and a great mate to many people. Unhappily he chose to cut short his life by the very means through which he had made one.

This was without doubt one of the best, if not the best books I have read. If you like real, gritty no bull biographies then this book is for you. I was almost in tears in parts and laughing my arse off in others. It's written in such a way that you can almost feel the authors pain and frustration, and in some ways I could relate some of my own thoughts to his. A cracking read. I couldn't put it down and I felt sad when I had finished it.

I can't recommend this book enough, one of the best books in my collection.

Una testimonianza autentica che mi ha lasciato sorpreso per la sua lucidità.

Received it a lot sooner than I expected. Not available anywhere in Canada

Incredibly interesting read... very in-depth regarding his mental health issues which is quite fascinating to read about from point of view of the first person.Also recommend Baptism of Fire by Frank Collins and Seven Troop by Andy McNab

I don't normally read autobiographies but after reading Andy McNabb's bravo two zero and seven troop and then Frank Colin's book I just had to read Nish's too. Glad I did. Well written and thought provoking.