The Regiment: The Definitive Story of the SAS

Description

From the bestselling author of The Real Bravo Two Zero comes the definitive history of the world's most elite fighting force - the SAS On 4 May 1980, seven terrorists holding twenty-one people captive in the Iranian Embassy in London's Prince's Gate, executed their first hostage. They threatened to kill another hostage every thirty minutes until their demands were met. Minutes later, armed men in black overalls and balaclavas shimmied down the roof on ropes and burst in through windows and doors. In seconds all but one of the terrorists had been shot dead, the other captured. For most people, this was their first acquaintance with a unit that was soon to become the ideal of modern military excellence - the Special Air Service regiment. Few realized that the SAS had been in existence for almost forty years, playing a discreet, if not secret, role almost everywhere Britain had fought since World War II, and had been the prototype of all modern special forces units throughout the world. In The Regiment, Michael Asher - a former soldier in 23 SAS Regiment - examines the evolution of the special forces idea and investigates the real story behind the greatest military legend of the late twentieth century.

Michael Asher has served in the Parachute Regiment and the SAS Regiment. The author of twenty-four books and presenter of six TV documentaries, he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1996. For his writing and travels, he has been awarded the Lawrence of Arabia Memorial Medal, the Mungo Park Medal and the Ness Award. He lives in Nairobi, Kenya.

Compelling and definitive . . . will surely not be bettered * Sunday Telegraph * Detailed, scathingly honest. Asher has brought the critical eye of the knowledgeable insider to his in-depth study of SAS operations and personalities * Herald * Breathtaking bravery, astonishing feats of endurance, raids and battles described with terrific immediacy and pace -- James Holland Extraordinary -- Damien Lewis