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Stand Up Straight
- 10 Life Lessons from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
- Narrated by: Paul Nanson, Theo Solomon
- Length: 3 hrs and 10 mins
- Categories: Relationships, Parenting & Personal Development, Personal Development
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Summary
Brought to you by Penguin.
For Life's Everyday Battles - The first official self-improvement and leadership book from the world-leading Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
Winston Churchill never surrendered.
Prince Harry has fought for mental health around the world.
Tobias Ellwood risked his life to save others during the Westminster terrorist attack.
Tim Peake became Britain's first astronaut on the International Space Station.
Ed Withey even organised his wedding with military precision.
The one thing all of these individuals have in common? Their world-class Sandhurst training.
Stand Up Straight applies 10 simple but transformative lessons that every officer is taught during their time at the world-famous military academy. Modern and counterintuitive, with its lessons ranging from making your bed and ironing your shirt to achieving discipline, emotional intelligence, resilience and fast decision-making under pressure, the book draws on firsthand experiences from war as well as the leadership lessons taught at Sandhurst.
The result is a groundbreaking personal development book that can easily be applied to every aspect of civilian life - work, home, confidence, anxiety, family and friends.
Critic reviews
"Fight your own battles with Sandhurst's self-help book." (Telegraph)
What listeners say about Stand Up Straight
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Paul
- 16-01-20
Concise but interesting
General Nanson narrates the introduction in a clipped but energetic manner, unfortunately the remainder of the book is narrated in a fairly insipid fashion by someone who clearly is struggling to build much enthusiasm for the subject matter. The narrator sounds like they must be in their 20's or early 30's - a more mature and charismatic voice would have elevated the listening experience.
3 people found this helpful
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- M
- 16-03-20
Good book, wrong narrator
Audible made a disastrous choice of narrator here. Mr Solomon's soporific style is better suited to sleep mantras, bedtime stories and seaside snoozes - where I'm sure he would be a winner. However, for a leadership book entitled 'Stand up straight' his voice is horizontal, near monotonous. Sorry Mr Solomon, please don't get me wrong - I'm sure you're fantastic at other genres, but not this one. The book is pretty good - basic tenets of Sandhurst training distilled into 10 lessons, each one expanded and exemplified. I did RMAS (a very long time ago) and it certainly rings true, and Nansen is right that much of that training has stood me well in future life. Apart from the life lessons you also get an insight into the life of a Sandhurst cadet, and it makes good pre-reading for the commissioning course. I found it hard to take in what was being said because of the voice tone and stress, but it seems well-written and - in other circumstances - easily digested. Not recommended, just because of Audible's choice of narrator.
1 person found this helpful
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- DiggyDoggDingle
- 22-10-20
Life lessons
Loved it. life lessons from Sandhurst. words of wisdom to live by. whoop whoop
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- Sam D.
- 05-10-20
Inspiring read
This book definitely motivated me through changes that had to be made. I will read it again soon. I found the reader slow at first but after increasing the playback speed slightly I was able to really enjoy this book. I wish I had read this as a teenager as its full of great advice for life.
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- Mr. G23
- 25-09-20
Great advice and inspiring words.
This is a great book. sadly, I have to agree with the others on the narration but it did not put me off this book. I realise Paul Nanson and Theo Solomon are just doing a narration job and they are trying to deliver an audio version of this book. they are doing their best and in parts, I think it works fine. but at other times, you can just feel that these two sound a little unnatural but, then again, how could they not... I mean, who, but the man himself could really give these words true authenticity? It is not their fault. I kept listening because this is golden advice. these lessons could help so many people and not just potential army officers, but all people, to be better people and I think we could all benefit from listening. I do wish the Major General had read this himself- it would have been really special to listen to this great man. But still, I am grateful that he has set down his words. I think they can help me, to improve my views on things and face my challenges in a better way. So, I am going to keep listening..
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- Anonymous User
- 15-07-20
Compelling and practical for all
Really interesting listen. I didn’t go to Sandhurst but I do work for the military charity Walking With The Wounded of which Major General Paul Nanson is now a trustee. So this was obligatory background reading and thoroughly enjoyable. It’s lessons are highly adaptable and there is a good balance between sharing military stories demonstrating why they do what they do with the cadets and how the same principles can be used in civvy street. Recommended.
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- steve
- 27-06-20
Insightful
It was very interesting to hear the ins and outs if the working of this mysterious institution. How officers get their training I feel could help with every day life. Unfortunately the book was downgraded by the performance which was an unenthusiastic and lacklustre reading by Theo Solomon. If only the whole book could have been read by the commandant!
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- catherine jones
- 19-06-20
Narration let's this down
Good practical advice but speed up the Theo Solomon audio sections to keep the elements flowing.
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- Lexx
- 18-05-20
Hugely insightful
After reading previous reviews, it was understood that the speed of the delivery was an issue , so to fix that a speed increase was required. Full of inspirational and motivational tips to help us find our fullest potential.
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- R-the Relentless
- 28-04-20
Brilliant applicable guidance!
Very relevant practical guidance on how we can lead our lives, and others, in the best way.