SAS

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What to expect

From the secret SAS archives, and acclaimed author Ben Macintyre: the first ever authorized history of the SAS

Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable, audiobook edition of SAS: Rogue Heroes, written and read by Ben MacIntyre.

'Impeccably researched, superbly told - by far the best book on the SAS in World War II' - Antony Beevor

In the summer of 1941, at the height of the war in the Western Desert, a bored and eccentric young officer, David Stirling, came up with a plan that was radical and entirely against the rules: a small undercover unit that would inflict mayhem behind enemy lines.

Despite intense opposition, Winston Churchill personally gave Stirling permission to recruit the toughest, brightest and most ruthless soldiers he could find. So began the most celebrated and mysterious military organisation in the world: the SAS.

Now, 75 years later, the SAS has finally decided to tell its astonishing story. It has opened its secret archives for the first time, granting historian Ben Macintyre full access to a treasure trove of unseen reports, memos, diaries, letters, maps and photographs, as well as free rein to interview surviving Originals and those who knew them.

The result is an exhilarating tale of fearlessness and heroism, recklessness and tragedy; of extraordinary men who were willing to take monumental risks. It is a story about the meaning of courage.

BEN MACINTYRE'S LATEST BOOK, COLDITZ, IS AVAILABLE TO PRE-ORDER NOW

Critics Review

Such a well-written, but also just informative, deeply detailed account of all of these guys’ lives within the SAS during that time.
Jack Barton, star of the BBC series SAS Rogue Heroes
Impeccably researched, superbly told - by far the best book on the SAS in World War II
Antony Beevor
Told with deceptive brilliance... one the finest books of its kind. Macintyre has a wonderful eye for eccentricity, and the narrative is peppered with extraordinary characters. At times there is more than a whiff of PG Wodehouse or Evelyn Waugh. The SAS are still about the best of their kind, and how they began to achieve this is an exotic saga indeed. No one will ever tell it better than this
Evening Standard
Excellent... accessible yet authoritative. Delivers stories of tremendous adventure and derring-do, but also offers more than straightforward military history. This book has many strengths but perhaps its greatest is how thought-provoking it is
Sunday Times
The author has written about a fascinating subject in a way that would make any thriller writer proud. As a work of military history it is thorough and highly entertaining. It would be nigh on impossible to praise it too highly
Daily Express
Ben Macintyre's coverage of the SAS in north Africa and, later, Italy, France and Germany, is brilliant, blending gripping narratives of fighting with descriptions of the fears of individual soldiers before battle and their reactions to its horror... Britain's martial pantheon is full of outnumbered heroes who wouldn't throw in the sponge. Henry V's band of brothers at Agincourt, the redcoats at Waterloo, the defenders of Rorke's drift, and the paras who charged at Goose Green are part of the tradition that embraces the SAS. This book explains why
Times
A master at setting the pulse racing, Macintyre relates stories of raw courage and daring by extraordinary men
Daily Mail
Meticulously researched, splendidly told, immensely entertaining and often very moving
John le Carré on 'Agent Zigzag'
Thrilling ... An extraordinary book
The Times Book of the Week on 'A Spy Among Friends'
Macintyre provides a riveting history of a revolutionary fighting force. Using unprecedented access to British Special Air Service regimental archives, Macintyre has gleaned fascinating material. A ripping good read
Washington Post 10 Best Books of 2016

User Reviews

Book 5.0
Narration 5.0
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5.0
Spellbinding account of WW2 by a group of dedicated soldiers and unconventional methods.
moreorles2 27/10/2023

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