Three Sips of Gin: Dominating the Battlespace with Rhodesia's Elite Selous Scouts Kindle Edition

Great book, combining an entertaining personal story set within a narrow and exotic historical context. A time when the British Empire was in retreat and Cold War battles were fought on the fringes of Britain's colonial possessions. The author has a knack for story-telling. Although undoubtedly embellished, the story is story is quite remarkable and real.

I bought the Kindle edition of this book on the reccomendation of John Connor, who writes mostly color article for the firearms press. Before buying, I read the reviews which were distinctly bimodal. Most were positive, but a substantial minority were negative. Oddly, I found myself agreeing with both groups. The book is a delightful, down-to-earth collection of anecdotes from the author's life, a decade of which coincided with the last decade of Rhodesia. The author is no Hemingway, but he tells his tales in authentic, truthful, candid language which I found thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining. I laughed out loud multiple times reading this book. Negative reviewers complain the book is not a scholarly history, and they are correct. If you want to understand the history of this important battle of the Cold War, there are better choices. If you want to be entertained and educated about one person's perspective, it's a great read!PS - I learned about "pink gin" from this book, which may be the best cocktail I've had....

“Three Sips of Gin” is a great read. I found myself laughing and chuckling to myself on every other page. Mr. Bax along with his Father, Mom, his sisters and wife, Carol have led quite an adventurous life. Some of his adventures with his sister reminded me of those with mine…which remain timeless to this day.The book takes on a more serious note although with still amazingly funny and harrowing adventures once Mr. Bax joins the Rhodesian Light Infantry and then the Selous Scouts. The stories of his training and his deployments are quite amazing.I was very happy that I had read his “Who will teach the Wisdom” first. It gave me an interesting insight when reading “Three Sips of Gin” and filled in some of his missions, which made them feel that more real and brought home the dangers of the one-on-one meeting with terrorists.The impact of both books made me realize how important other people and events play a role in one’s development and how one would have been a different person if they had not met those individuals or experienced the events one did in the order they occurred.I especially related to the inner question of what happened during a certain point in Mr. Bax’s life. Somethings just cannot be explained by the physical world.The politics of the world and the ego-play of those who move nations like they are pawns was very intriguing. A very eye-opening account of the games of nation and world politics played on a grand level.Reading them both created a beautiful sandwich. Due to the order that I read them (I read “Who will teach the Wisdom” again after I read “Three Sips of Gin”. It felt like I had created a Wisdom-Gin-Wisdom lunch. No matter what order you read them, I would recommend reading both. Both books complement one another very well and when meshed together give an excellent story of insights to an incredible life of one man those around him.I will also say, I found that the women in Mr. Bax’s life, his Mom, his sisters, his wife Carol, her nurse relative and his numerous very Monty Pylon-ish teachers, probably added a little flavor to his overall personality. In some cases, saved his life!Not to mention the men that he served with and met during his time in Rhodesia. An amazing group of warriors. A big shout out to all of them, past and present.Great reads both books. I highly recommend them both.

A collection of short episodes in a very full life. Many very funny situations that had me in stitches. Highly recommend

The book is an account of the author's life, from childhood. This is a factual and interesting account of his experiences in Southern Africa from the '50s. I particularly enjoyed the chapters dealing with the author's time in the Rhodesian army. Although at times repetitive, the reader can form a good idea of what life for these brave people must have been like. Having lived myself through these turbulent times, I could associate with the author and the events and experiences he describes.A good, well-written book which I would recommend to anyone interested in an aspect of the turbulent history of Southen Africa which no one seems to remember, or wish to remember.

The book gives an enjoyable first person account of the author's experiences as a member of the Rhodesian armed forces along with many adventurous stories before and after his military service. All in all a very good read, made me feel nostalgic for a time I wasn't even alive for and places I've never been.

The cover deceives you, it’s more an autobiography. Wanted to read more about stories of the war, but this had maybe 1/3 of it with actually action and talking about the war. It’s is funny an entertaining there are good stories in this book and Tim is an interesting person. But to have in the title “Dominating The Battlespace with Rhodesia’s Elite Selous Scouts.” Is a bit of a stretch. Not a bad read but definitely not was I was hoping it would be.

It was a good read. An account of the Rhodesian bush war