Andy McNab writing Battlefield 3 book

By Robert Purchese Published 1 August, 2011

Help tackle "atrocious" teenage literacy.

Best selling author and former SAS man Andy McNab has co-written a Battlefield 3 book with a chap called Peter Grimsdale.

The book, Battlefield 3: The Russian, tells the story of Dmitri Mayakovsky - a character you'll bump into in the game.

Both book and Battlefield 3 game will be released on the same day - 25th October.

More than just adding back story, McNab believes accompanying fiction can help encourage gamers to put down the pad and pick up the pages.

"The crossover between game and book is nothing new, but if you look at - and this wasn't the reason why - Western numeracy and literacy levels of teenagers, they're atrocious," Andy McNab told Eurogamer as part of an interview published today.

"Western numeracy and literacy levels of teenagers [are] atrocious."

Andy McNab, author, former SAS operative

"So anything that gets them picking up a book and hopefully enjoying it is fantastic.

"And it can be the other way round as well," he added. "You've got people who are reading books who'll go, 'You know what? Let's try some of this game business.' It works both ways. But as far as I'm concerned, if you've got a 14-year-old who's playing games and he picks up a book and reads it, that's fantastic."

Andy McNab talked of how Dmitri "Dima" Mayakovsky quickly emerged as "someone who everybody liked". Mayakovsky was "part of the old school" of soldiers, said McNab - "a young man [who served] during the Communist era where he believed in what he was doing". Now he's with the Federation and "he's lost", McNab explained, "because he is a moral guy always wanting to do the right thing in a world now that is totally different".

"The old order is gone, so where does he fit in?" asked McNab. "How does he deal with the environment that he's got now?

"[Dima is] totally capable of getting on with his weapons and doing all of the stuff he does, but it's more about why he's doing it and what, if you like, is his motivation in this world that has, for him, gone haywire.

"You can play so much with that," he added. "I write mostly in first-person, but this is third-person which, for me, is fantastic, because you can bounce everywhere and go off across to the other side of the planet and go off and come back to him. And it's easier to create jeopardy in that way rather than everything coming to the character. It's good fun."

Dmitri Mayakovsky is one person of a supporting cast. There are other characters whose stories could also be spun into books.

"Yeah, totally, totally," said McNab. "It needs to be a story running along parallel with the game. It's looking at the game from another point of view, which hopefully gives the game more context and is, hopefully, just as enjoyable as the game."

Andy McNab (a pseudonym) rose to fame for his account of Gulf War operation Bravo Two Zero. McNab has been awarded both the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) and Military Medal (MM).

McNab left the SAS in 1993, and since then has written three accounts of his SAS life: Bravo Two Zero, Immediate Action and Seven Troop. He also pens the Nick Stone thrillers as well as other fictional titles.

McNab has served as a military adviser to Hollywood, lead security teams for media and lectured to intelligence services in the US and the UK.

McNab has sold more than 30 million books worldwide.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds. @Clert on Twitter.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (29) Latest comment 10 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • StolenGlory #1 10 months ago

    "Western numeracy and literacy levels of teenagers [are] atrocious."

    Well, he's right.

  • tombo #2 10 months ago

    Will it actually improve with every read?

  • Teamallstar #3 10 months ago

    I dont think Andy McNab should be lecturing anyone on literacy...

    His "books" are not exactly Shakespeare...

  • wizlon #4 10 months ago

    Apparently you'll get a code with every new book that will unlock the last 20 pages, if you buy it 2nd hand from the charity shop you'll have to pay an extra 50p to see what happens at the end.

  • AdamAsunder #5 10 months ago

    Well it might not dramatically improve literacy among teenagers but at least it will teach them how to shit in cellophane.
    Edited by AdamAsunder at 01/08/11 @ 14:33

  • Peregrin #6 10 months ago

    tl;dr. I hope they make a game or a film of this book.

  • George-Roper #7 10 months ago

    Andy MacNob!

  • telboy007 #8 10 months ago

    init blud

  • TeeHee #9 10 months ago

    "atrocious" compared to who?

    because from what i can tell the west has pretty much the best literate and numeracy able teeanger rates in the world.

  • technotica #10 10 months ago

    @EddieMink

    Yes! What about Ivan? :p

  • Theticket #11 10 months ago

    As an English teacher, this sounds like a great idea, even though I wouldn't be interested in it myself. Anything to make kids read, even if it's not quite Joyce or Nabokov. It is really quite scary to realise how few people actually pick up a book of their own volition, outside school/

  • carlitoswagon #12 10 months ago

    "Western numeracy and literacy levels of teenagers [are] atrocious."

    Explains the millions being mugged off for 1200 ms on that other shooters dlc. Zero understanding of whats actually happening.

  • Zyklonbzombie #13 10 months ago

    @TeeHee: Indeed. Literacy levels in the West are, relatively, pretty high indeed, historically and geographically speaking. Obviously they could be higher, but macho military fiction with a primary audience of middle-aged-men-on-the-train-to-the-office isn't really going to solve much.
    Edited by Zyklonbzombie at 01/08/11 @ 15:36

  • arcam #14 10 months ago

    @tjtj

    Don't worry, only another four months of promotion to go!

  • Powerslave #15 10 months ago

    Bikini $18

    I'd say that's a bargain.

  • miiiguel #16 10 months ago

    because from what i can tell the west has pretty much the best literate and numeracy able teeanger rates in the world.

    Southern Asia has the best teenager numeracy rates (mainly China; South Korea and India) not sure about literacy, read on an article on Math Olympics, which was won by a Portuguese team this year for the 1st time, after a long streak of China victories.
    Edited by miiiguel at 01/08/11 @ 16:38

  • Kanjin #17 10 months ago

    A source for the numeracy/literacy level claim would be nice, those kind of statements always get my back up.

  • Doomspoon #18 10 months ago

    @Theticket: "As an English teacher, this sounds like a great idea, even though I wouldn't be interested in it myself. Anything to make kids read, even if it's not quite Joyce or Nabokov. It is really quite scary to realise how few people actually pick up a book of their own volition, outside school/ "

    I've never had problems with literacy but have really bad concentration issues, I was diagnosed with PTSD many years ago and I feel this has had some bearing on my inability to sit and read. Short of re-reading Douglas Adams or non-fiction history and reference books I'd rarely picked up a book since leaving school around 20 years ago. Whilst I agree with other comments that Andy McNab isn't a literary genius his stuff is enjoyable and engaging.

    I often read a page or two on the Kindle whilst waiting in the lobby between rounds on CoD etc. It was actually being given a load of second hand Chris Ryan books last year that got me into the habit of reading regularly. Both McNab and Ryan have contributed to the Quick Reads programme and should be praised for that. Their works may not be anything special but they go hand in hand with this type of entertainment.

  • benfresh76 #19 10 months ago

    I'd rather read the News of the World.

  • jablonski #20 10 months ago

    @Theticket
    "As an English teacher, this sounds like a great idea, even though I wouldn't be interested in it myself. Anything to make kids read, even if it's not quite Joyce or Nabokov. It is really quite scary to realise how few people actually pick up a book of their own volition, outside school"

    As if you read Joyce or Nabokov out of choice

  • Tyronne #21 10 months ago

    The owner of the book is asked to rip out the last 20 pages upon passing on the book to someone and then this new reader is asked to pay a fiver for a `new-readers pass` which contains the last 20 pages.

  • shave_my_donkey #22 10 months ago

    McNab is a lying cunt. anyone who disagrees read Michael Asher's 'The Real Bravo Two Zero'

  • spotter5 #23 10 months ago

    Finland has a 100% literacy rate. The Finns have a great education system.

  • tomjoadsghost #24 10 months ago

    Why is this monster encouraging 14 year olds to play an 18 certificate game.

    Also why is the battlefield box styled after those heartburn adverts on the TV.

  • Mister-Wario #25 10 months ago

    No matter how good the author is, I generally have little faith in books based on pre-existing works. You know, like films.

  • JensonJet #26 10 months ago

    I just wish the book would start with a quick explanation of "they're", "there" and "their" and when to use the apostrophe. In fact I wish every gaming forum had a quick reference to help those who struggle with these spelling issues.

  • tomjoadsghost #27 10 months ago

    good, call.

    i'd quite like to see the ' loose/lose' and 'bought/brought' things addressed too.

    The introduction of a transvestite mercenary group called the 'rouge rogues' would probably be helpful too.

  • kongzi #28 10 months ago

    wow.. walktrough-writers are becoming pretty arrogant these days..

  • DigitalDelay #29 10 months ago

    lol at comment #4 "His "books" are not exactly Shakespeare..."

    I'm glad they are not! Shakespeare is major cock! :D

    I agree some of McNabs later books seem a bit weak, but I enjoyed the early Nick Stone series of novels at the time.