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SAS

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What to expect

BEN MACINTYRE'S NEXT AUDIOBOOK, REDWOOD, IS AVAILABLE TO BUY NOW.


THE BOOK BEHIND THE HIT BBC SERIES SAS: ROGUE HEROES, STARRING CONNOR SWINDELLS, JACK O'CONNELL, ALFIE ALLEN AND DOMINIC WEST

In the summer of 1941, at the height of the war in the Western Desert, a bored and eccentric young officer, David Stirling, has a vision for a new kind of war: attacking the enemy where they least expect it - from behind their own lines.

Despite the intense opposition of many in British High Command, Winston Churchill personally gives Stirling permission to recruit the toughest, brightest and most ruthless soldiers he can find. And so begins the most celebrated and mysterious military organisation in the world: the SAS.

With unprecedented access to the SAS secret files, unseen footage and exclusive interviews with its founder members, SAS: Rogue Heroes tells the remarkable story behind an extraordinary fighting force, and the immense cost of making it a reality.

'A master at setting the pulse racing' Daily Mail

'Thorough and highly entertaining. It would be nigh on impossible to praise it too highly' Daily Express

'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' Evening Standard

© Ben Macintyre 2016 (P) Penguin Audio 2016

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
Author Ben Macintyre
Narrator Ben MacIntyre
Duration 13 hours and 16 minutes
Release Date
ISBN 9780241977187
Format Audiobook
Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
Genre European history, Modern warfare, Special and elite forces, Specific wars and campaigns, War and defence operations
Collections The Art Of War
Availability AU, GB, IE
Rating
5.0 (1 review)
Narration
5.0 (1 review)

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