Special and elite forces

A history of the twentieth-century Royal Air Force training programme as told by the men who lived it.

For the first time, leading Second World War authors from around the world have collaborated on a definitive anthology of the greatest snipers of the war.

During World War II, it quickly became apparent that the physical and tactical demands placed upon paratroopers required men of exceptional stamina, courage and intelligence.

A history of the twentieth-century Royal Air Force training programme as told by the men who lived it.

In the early hours of 15 May 1982, three Sea King helicopters carrying 42 men of 22 SAS Regiment and attachments, lifted off from the carrier HMS Hermes and headed towards the remote Pebble Island on the north coast of West Falkland.

The covert, clandestine operations of the Special Air Service Regiment (SAS), from the jungles of Malaya, Borneo and Brunei to the deserts and mountains of the Middle East have always been the focus of intense fascination, stoked by the regiment's 'closed' organization and secretive activities.

“Provides an excellent overview of the development of parachute troops as well as an exciting battle narrative and gripping human interest story.

Always marked out for high rank, Robert Laycock came into his own when selected to raise 8 Commando, a new ‘crack’ unit early in the Second World War.