Red Devils

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Brought to you by Penguin.

A GRIPPING AUTHORISED HISTORY OF THE DARING 'RED DEVILS', THE TRAILBLAZERS OF THE PARACHUTE REGIMENT

The Parachute Regiment is Britain's elite airborne infantry. On the 80th anniversary of their first crucial campaign, in Operation Torch in North Africa, historian and broadcaster Mark Urban combines perspectives from German and British sources to tell the gripping stories of the men who had the resilience, fitness and self-reliance to be "Red Devils" -- the name they were given by their German enemies.

The Paras comprised everyone from circus performers to solicitors, policemen to gravediggers, Christian Jews and communists. From recently-widowed Colonel Geoffrey Pine-Coffin, who had to leave his little boy to head to the front, to Mike Lewis, whose photographs became iconic images of war; from those who survived to those who longed for "a bloodbath" and died in action; Urban brings life to these men and their experiences, exploring what drove them and covering their daring actions at D-Day, Arnhem and across the Second World War.

Based on deep archival research and new material from the men's families, and giving overdue recognition to the North African campaign, this compelling account paints a true and moving picture of the heart of war.

© Mark Urban 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022

Critics Review

  • Gripping and authoritative. Family men, circus performers, solicitors, communists, and reactionaries all fought together and shed blood for their country-a true and moving story of war

    Andy McNab

  • Riveting. Impeccably researched. Authoritative. Urban reveals the Red Devils in all their glory, as they forged the path for airborne forces to follow in WWII. Full of daring action, standout characters and cutting edge operations, this is unputdownable

    Damien Lewis

  • A detailed, fast-paced history of these remarkable men that reads like a thriller. Brilliantly researched and brilliantly told

    Julia Boyd

  • I couldn’t put Red Devils down

    Amanda Foreman

  • Excellent . . . Mark Urban has brought an old soldier’s insights and a fine journalist’s clarity to tell this story resoundingly well, mixing superb accounts of the battles with a deep understanding of personalities, service politics and the paratrooper ethos

    Telegraph

  • If you want to get under the skin of the pioneers of airborne soldiering, this is it . . . fast paced, well written and attention-grabbing from start to finish

    Daily Mail Plus

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