On 6 June 2004, in a quiet suburb of Riyadh, BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner and cameraman Simon Cumbers were ambushed by Islamist gunmen. Simon was killed outright. Frank was hit in the shoulder and leg. As he lay in the road, pleading for his life, a figure stood over him and pumped four more bullets into his body at point-blank range…

Against all the odds, Frank Gardner survived, and this is his remarkable account of the agonizing journey he’s taken – from being shot and left for dead to where he is today, partly paralysed but alive.

It is a journey that began twenty-five years earlier, when a chance meeting with explorer Wilfred Thesiger inspired in the young Frank what would become a lifelong passion for the Arab world – an abiding interest that would take him throughout the Middle East and lead to his becoming a BBC journalist. And this same passion would, in the wake of 9/11, send Frank on another journey that came to dominate – and nearly end – his life: his coverage of Al-Qaeda.

Honest, moving and inspiring, Blood & Sand reveals a deep understanding of the Islamic world and offers an insider’s compelling analysis of the ongoing ‘War on Terror’ and what it means in these uncertain times.