Rogue Heroes: The History of the SAS, Britain's Secret Special Forces Unit That Sabotaged the Nazis and Changed the Nature of War

Ben Macintyre

Oct 2016 · Sold by Crown

About this ebook

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The incredible untold story of World War II’s greatest secret fighting force, as told by the modern master of wartime intrigue—now a limited series on Epix!

“Reads like a mashup of The Dirty Dozen and The Great Escape, with a sprinkling of Ocean’s 11 thrown in for good measure.”—Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

ONE OF NPR’S BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR • “Rogue Heroes is a ripping good read.”—Washington Post (10 Best Books of the Year)
 
Britain’s Special Air Service—or SAS—was the brainchild of David Stirling, a young aristocrat whose aimlessness belied a remarkable strategic mind. Where most of his colleagues looked at a World War II battlefield map and saw a protracted struggle, Stirling saw an opportunity: given a small number of elite men, he could parachute behind Nazi lines and sabotage their airplanes and supplies. Defying his superiors’ conventional wisdom, Stirling assembled a revolutionary fighting force that would upend not just the balance of the war, but the nature of combat itself.
 
Bringing his keen eye for detail to a riveting wartime narrative, Ben Macintyre uses his unprecedented access to the SAS archives to shine a light on a legendary unit long shrouded in secrecy.

Ratings and reviews

Meticulous research is evident in this telling of the group of commandos who were organized into being by a few unusual men, changed warfare dramatically, and became the model and gold standard for similar units the world over. Beginning with detailed chronicling of the character of each man involved in this revolutionary idea being presented in such a way that the readers feel like they are with them, this kind of personal involvement by the reader is carried on throughout the further development and actions. If you geek history in general or military history in particular I guarantee that you will love this book! I'm supposed to provide the disclaimer that I entered a giveaway and received a print copy from the publisher, and this is true. However, I had only read a small portion when it was liberated by a USMC who was very reluctant to return it. So, I found and purchased an audio edition and was delighted with the fact that it is narrated by the author!

Great read.

Another gem by Macintyre

About the author

Ben Macintyre is a writer-at-large for The Times of London and the bestselling author of A Spy Among Friends, Double Cross, Operation Mincemeat, and Agent Zigzag, among other books. Macintyre has also written and presented BBC documentaries of his work.