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The British government has taken steps to halt the prosecution of soldiers responsible for the deaths of civilians in Northern Ireland, most of whom had no connection to paramilitary activities. These killings were part of a ruthless dirty war that commenced in 1970 when Brigadier Frank Kitson, a counter-insurgency specialist, was sent to Northern Ireland. Kitson had spent decades in Britain’s colonies refining old, and developing new, techniques which he applied in Northern Ireland. He became...

This work begins in August 1900 during the war in South Africa, when mounted Boer commandos ranging across the veldt superseded pitched battles of massed armies and heavy weaponry. Thanks to his flair for organisation, Baden-Powell is asked to create a mounted force with a combined military and police role, and will be answerable to the Commander-in-Chief and the civil High Commissioner. Rejecting Army models of command, Baden-Powell creates the South African Constabulary (SAC) with a small num...

This book traces the history of Stirling's creation from its birth to its untimely death and then rebirth as a territorial army unit in 1947. Using documentation as well as 100 operational files which give minute details of the regiment's sucesses - and blunders - during the years, this book also includes interviews with key members of the SAS from the period.

Special Forces soldiers are brave, seasoned soldiers from America's heartland, selected in a tough competition and trained in an extraordinary range of skills. They know the language, culture and rules of unconventional warfare better than anyone, including the CIA. They prefer to stay out of the limelight, but author Linda Robinson has found a way inside their special brotherhood and gained their trust. In Masters of Chaos, she tells their story through the experiences of a select group of co...

Airborne assault was one of the great innovations of the 1930s and 1940s, adding a new ‘vertical’ dimension to infantry warfare. By the onset of World War II in 1939, Germany, Italy, and Russia were already advanced in their development of paratrooper units. Germany in particular demonstrated the tactical shock of paratroopers in Western Europe in 1940 and, most spectacularly, in Crete in 1941, galvanizing the UK and the United States to expand and train their own airborne forces, which they unl...

Everyone knows that members of the U.S. Special Forces are the top-shelf, creme de la creme, A-Number-Ones, specially hand-picked people to train and serve as the avant garde of the largest, most well-funded military on the face of the earth. But that doesn't happen overnight! There are special training procedures-over and above basic training-that turn a swabbie into a SEAL, a grunt into a Green Beret, or a runt into a Ranger. Collected here for the first time is official information on USSF...

Military demolitions are the destruction by fire, water, explosive, and mechanical means of areas, structures, facilities, or materials to accomplish a military objective. The U.S. Army Explosives and Demolitions Handbook is a guide to the use of explosives in the destruction of military obstacles from the Department of the U.S. Army. This guide includes information on types, characteristics, and uses of explosives and auxiliary equipment; preparation, placement, and firing of charges; safety pr...

Here in this critical guide is all the important medical techniques that you'll need to know in order to survive in just about any situation. From wrapping life-threatening head wounds to treating a poisonous spider bite, The Complete U.S. Army Survival Guide to Medical Skills, Tactics, and Techniques has got you covered. Within these pages, you'll find: First-aid techniques for hundreds of different kinds of wounds. Medical procedures necessary for properly treating animal bites and stings....

America deployed a diverse group of special operations forces (SOF) throughout World War II and in Korea. These elite units quickly earned a redoubtable reputation and proved themselves adept at hit-and-run raids, gathering intelligence in long-range patrols, rescuing PoWs and living and fighting in hostile environments. This valuable, fully illustrated guide includes more than 100 rare and unusual photographs of the men, uniforms, special equipment and insignia of these elite troops. Units cove...

After the horrors of 9/11, the British armed forces were called upon to by the government to engage new enemies in faraway lands. Spearheading the War on Terror, Royal Marines led British troops into Afghanistan in 2002 to oust the Taleban and scatter al-Qaeda. Then in March 2003, again it was the Royal Marines who kicked off the Second Gulf War with an assault in southern Iraq to pave the way for the removal from power of the brutal Saddam Hussein.Since then, the men and women of the British fo...

The book behind the BBC series 'SAS: Rogue Warriors' From the secret SAS archives, and acclaimed author Ben Macintyre: the first ever authorized history of the SAS 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 g...

The Teach Yourself History series offers an alternative to academic historical books, its content being extensive yet extremely accessible and the approach refreshingly different. The books are informative and compelling, and engage the reader from beginning to end. They assume no prior historical knowledge, and are full of anecdotes and details that provide a very personal appeal. Teach Yourself Special Forces looks at the development of special forces during The Second World War onwards up t...