SAS: My Trial By Fire: True Stories and Life Lessons from SAS Selection
- Author Des Powell
- Narrator Des Powell
- Publisher Quercus
- Publish Date 5 June 2025
- Run Time 8 hours and 57 minutes
- Format Audio
- Genre Autobiography: historical, political and military, Military institutions, Military veterans, Modern warfare, Special and elite forces, True stories of heroism, endurance and survival.
Flexible Pricing & Rewards For Listening
At xigxag, the more you read, the less you pay* on select audiobook and x-book® titles, as in the table below. Pricing updates automatically in the app and resets one year after your first purchase. And you can always find a selection of brilliant titles available for only £3.99.
Titles Purchased
- 1-5
- 6-10
- 11-15
- 16-20
- Over 20
Price per title
- £8.99
- £7.99
- £6.99
- £5.99
- £4.99
*Only the full price titles you buy count toward your personal pricing tier. Full price titles don’t include Listen for Less or other books bought with a voucher or discount code.
Listen to a sample
What to expect
Famously, the Paras is home to the UK military's second-toughest training regime after the SAS. Des Powell knows all about both. In fact, Des knows SAS selection better than anyone because he's done it twice. In SAS: Trial by Fire he tells the story of those gruelling tests: how Para training turned him into a soldier but, more crucially, how the SAS process turned him into a member of the elite.
Des describes exactly what it takes to be an elite special forces operator. From raw recruit to trained fighting machine - including the heart-breaking moment he was forced to withdraw, only to begin the process again - Des shares the details of his personal journey, itself a tale of prevailing against almost overwhelming odd. He teaches us valuable life skills by taking us deep into the training regime itself: fitness, navigation, endurance, weapons and combat training, survival techniques in hostile climates, the terrifying jungle phase, the dark arts of escape and evasion, the secret of surviving interrogation.
No one's lifted the lid on what it takes to join the SAS and become the best of the best. Until now.
Praise for Bravo Three Zero
'A must read. Honesty, integrity and real experience that puts you in the thick of the action.' Billy Billingham
'The story that needed to be told' Jason Fox
'The attention to detail is unbelievable' Tim Lovejoy
'Thrilling' Express
Critics Review
| Author | Des Powell |
|---|---|
| Narrator | Des Powell |
| Duration | 8 hours and 57 minutes |
| Release Date | |
| ISBN | 9781529441956 |
| Format | Audiobook |
| Publisher | Quercus |
| Genre | Autobiography: historical, political and military, Military institutions, Military veterans, Modern warfare, Special and elite forces, True stories of heroism, endurance and survival |
| Collections | The Art Of War |
| Availability | AU, GB, IE |
More from the same
Narrator
About xigxag
xigxag is an independent, UK-based audiobook platform and the UK’s only B Corp certified audiobook company. We offer nearly 150,000 audiobooks, all with professional human narration. No AI-generated voices. xigxag is rated an Ethical Consumer Best Buy for audiobooks and a top-rated ethical bookshop.
There is no subscription. You buy the audiobooks you want, you own them permanently, and prices start at £8.99. The more you listen over the year, the less you pay per book, and there is always a selection in Listen for Less from £3.99. You can also send audiobooks as gifts using our audiobook gift cards or in-app gifting.
Every audiobook on xigxag has honest reviews covering both the book and the narration, and our community features make it easy to share what you are listening to, discover what others recommend, and find your next listen.
Download or stream on iOS, Android, or in your browser. Browse the full catalogue at xigxag.co.uk.