The Lion of Sabray

Patrick Robinson, the author of the bestseller Lone Survivor about the heroic Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell now brings to us The Lion of Sabray a biography of his rescuer Mohammed Gulab. Robinson tells the full life story of Gulab, from the time he fought the Soviets as a Mujahideen warrior to the time he rescued Luttrell and the challenges he faced while caring for him. Robinson mentions Gulab’s tribal honor code, the so-called Pashtunwali, which has eleven elements from hospitality to honor. It is the ancient unwritten pre-Islamic Pashtun code by which the Afghan tribesmen live.

“Every young boy was taught the last great triumph of the tribal warriors of Afghanistan: how the bearded Islamists had destroyed the British army in the infamous retreat from Kabul in January 1842.”

Just like Lone Survivor, The Lion of Sabray is a very powerful book. Robinson’s account of Gulab’s life reads almost like a military thriller. There is action, true, but the reader can’t help but feel compassion for the characters. I highly recommend The Lion of Sabray to any military history buff.

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