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Rogue Heroes: A History of the SAS, Britain's Secret Special Forces Unit That Sabotaged the Nazis and Changed the Nature of War
In the summer of 1941, at the height of the war in the Western Desert, a bored and eccentric young officer, David Stirling, came up with a plan that was radical and entirely against the rules: a small undercover unit that would inflict mayhem behind enemy lines.
Despite intense opposition, Winston Churchill personally gave Stirling permission to recruit the toughest, brightest and most ruthless soldiers he could find. So began the most celebrated and mysterious military organisation in the world: the SAS.
Now, 75 years later, the SAS has finally decided to tell its astonishing story. It has opened its secret archives for the first time, granting historian Ben Macintyre full access to a treasure trove of unseen reports, memos, diaries, letters, maps and photographs, as well as free rein to interview surviving Originals and those who knew them.
The result is an exhilarating tale of fearlessness and heroism, recklessness and tragedy; of extraordinary men who were willing to take monumental risks. It is a story about the meaning of courage.
Despite intense opposition, Winston Churchill personally gave Stirling permission to recruit the toughest, brightest and most ruthless soldiers he could find. So began the most celebrated and mysterious military organisation in the world: the SAS.
Now, 75 years later, the SAS has finally decided to tell its astonishing story. It has opened its secret archives for the first time, granting historian Ben Macintyre full access to a treasure trove of unseen reports, memos, diaries, letters, maps and photographs, as well as free rein to interview surviving Originals and those who knew them.
The result is an exhilarating tale of fearlessness and heroism, recklessness and tragedy; of extraordinary men who were willing to take monumental risks. It is a story about the meaning of courage.
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First published October 4, 2016
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About the author
Ben Macintyre
38 books4,269 followersBen Macintyre is a writer-at-large for The Times (U.K.) and the bestselling author of The Spy and the Traitor, A Spy Among Friends, Double Cross, Operation Mincemeat, Agent Zigzag, and Rogue Heroes, among other books. Macintyre has also written and presented BBC documentaries of his work.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,349 reviews
January 21, 2023
If you're a history buff, you'll want to read this. If you like reading a good tale, you'll want to read this too. This is definitely a good tale, and it happens to be true, which makes it even more amazing.
After you've read the book, be on the lookout for the Rogue Heroes television series. So far, we know it's been shown on BBC in the UK and the MGM+ network in the US.
After you've read the book, be on the lookout for the Rogue Heroes television series. So far, we know it's been shown on BBC in the UK and the MGM+ network in the US.
May 17, 2017
"With correct timing and in suitable country, with or without the help of the local population, a small specially trained force can achieve results out of all proportion to its numbers."
- Major Roy Alexander Farran DSO
The territory of military history books in bookshops is mostly undiscovered terrain for me. All these pages that glorify, rationalise and romanticise the biggest atrocities mankind has committed never managed to ignite my interest much. Both the intellectual and the romantic approach do nothing for me to detract from my conviction that at the root of war there is pure evil, plain and simple, no matter how much yarn you spin around it. People say it's important to read up on wars, on how and why they were conducted, in order to learn from the experience. But what is there to learn? Just play nice and don't go murdering each other. It's a lesson that hardly warrants a full library: an aphorism on a kitchen wall should be enough if the message resounding in your own heart doesn't suffice. I am fully aware I sound like a naive pacifist here, and people with military history or soldiers in the family might even disdain this opinion, this ingratitude in the face of their heroism and sacrifice, but let there be no mistake: I am fully aware I am indebted to all those who took up their arms in order to defend their loved ones and indirectly allowed me to be born, to live, and to live in the society I live in now, but another side of the story is that I'm here despite of all those bullets flying through the air. The irrationality of war happens on such a large scale that it's unfair to make blanket statements on all who, sometimes highly understandably, participate in it, but when I see heroes of the war being praised my thoughts usually go to those who were on the other end of that heroism, in some unmarked grave, their bravery unsung because they were on the "evil" or losing side. I find that narratives on World War II are particularly blunt in that regard because we all agree that the Nazis were the bad guys in that piece of history, and between 1939 and 1945, a dead German was a good German.
Despite my many misgivings on war I am not above being entertained by war-inspired movies and video games. One of these video games was Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines, a tactical game where with a small team of specialised soldiers the player had to infiltrate enemy bases and destroy key equipment and buildings. There's something intensely satisfying about the idea of a small unit slipping through nets of patrolling enemies and reaching the target undetected. While I knew this was somehow based on real life war practices I assumed it was heavily spiced up for entertainment value. Now I know better.
Who dares wins
- SAS motto
Thanks to some romantic notions I had around the small commando units and despite my general misgivings on the topic of war I decided to pick up this book which describes the history of the British Special Air Service (SAS) and some of the memorable missions they conducted. The SAS was the first of its kind and has since its conception inspired many future military leaders as well as movie directors. This is the first time the official SAS Archives dealing with World War II could be consulted and with Ben Macintyre an experienced writer with a gift for flowing prose was put in charge of looking into these files and extracting an engaging narrative from them. An exploit in which he succeeded remarkably well, through the well-measured use of a flurry of anecdotes but mainly because the story of SAS is such a gripping one in itself.
Macintyre zooms in on some of the most characteristic members of the regiment that consisted entirely of colourful people with a knack for thinking outside of the box, bending rules and breaking their bones. Colour doesn't come thanks to only qualities. Most of these men had quirks and troubles, sometimes of a most explosive kind, and also these are described in the book, ensuring that while you read these frankly fantastic stories you never forget you're reading about real people in real situations. The narrative starts with the founding of the SAS, goes over the "gentlemanly" operations conducted in the North African deserts against Rommel's troops, moves to missions in Italy and France and ends with the ever more atrocious encounters in Germany during the final stage of the war. The first part of the book largely coincided with my views on the regiment that were based on the game, namely that they were mainly a tactical organisation intent on intelligence gathering and destroying important equipment, fuel depots and transport lines with as little death and injury possible. But soon it's clear that this is war, not a fairy tale, and inadvertently the dead bodies start piling up. Even these "romantic soldiers" dealt in blood and death, and many of the smiling faces you see in this book's photographs have faced gruesome ends. But as the opening quote has shown, the SAS inflicted more damage to the Germans than they had to endure and the death toll on the German side is quite staggering. For the first bunker of Germans that was shot up and cleared out there was a high emphasis on how cruel and vicious it had seemed, but not much later it becomes business as usual, and the chapters are simply rounded off with a quick enumeration of the mission statistics that illustrate the high success rate, which is to say: hundreds of dead nazis. This is clearly a book about those who won the war and little thought is spared for those who lost.
The anecdotes range from funny stories about bagpipes on the battlefield to traumatizing experiences of murdered children and the liberation of a concentration camp. It offers a good balance between the personal perspective of some of the soldiers on the one hand and the broader context in which they operated on the other, so that the end result is an easy-to-follow narrative that, while maybe too romantic in some instances, will keep you on the edge of your seat and teach you more about how David Stirling, the founder of SAS, changed the war paradigm of two opposing fronts looking each other in the eye. Armies needed to watch their backs from then on. While this book is based on historical archives and deals in facts, it doesn't read like a dry history book because it's just so damn entertaining.
I don't know how this book compares to the (auto)biographies of the soldiers who were part of this daring regiment, but I can definitely recommend it as a first read on what it's like to fight behind enemy lines. Exciting, frightening, adventurous, romantic, tragic, sometimes morally dubious and, most of all, disturbingly real.
- Major Roy Alexander Farran DSO
The territory of military history books in bookshops is mostly undiscovered terrain for me. All these pages that glorify, rationalise and romanticise the biggest atrocities mankind has committed never managed to ignite my interest much. Both the intellectual and the romantic approach do nothing for me to detract from my conviction that at the root of war there is pure evil, plain and simple, no matter how much yarn you spin around it. People say it's important to read up on wars, on how and why they were conducted, in order to learn from the experience. But what is there to learn? Just play nice and don't go murdering each other. It's a lesson that hardly warrants a full library: an aphorism on a kitchen wall should be enough if the message resounding in your own heart doesn't suffice. I am fully aware I sound like a naive pacifist here, and people with military history or soldiers in the family might even disdain this opinion, this ingratitude in the face of their heroism and sacrifice, but let there be no mistake: I am fully aware I am indebted to all those who took up their arms in order to defend their loved ones and indirectly allowed me to be born, to live, and to live in the society I live in now, but another side of the story is that I'm here despite of all those bullets flying through the air. The irrationality of war happens on such a large scale that it's unfair to make blanket statements on all who, sometimes highly understandably, participate in it, but when I see heroes of the war being praised my thoughts usually go to those who were on the other end of that heroism, in some unmarked grave, their bravery unsung because they were on the "evil" or losing side. I find that narratives on World War II are particularly blunt in that regard because we all agree that the Nazis were the bad guys in that piece of history, and between 1939 and 1945, a dead German was a good German.
Despite my many misgivings on war I am not above being entertained by war-inspired movies and video games. One of these video games was Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines, a tactical game where with a small team of specialised soldiers the player had to infiltrate enemy bases and destroy key equipment and buildings. There's something intensely satisfying about the idea of a small unit slipping through nets of patrolling enemies and reaching the target undetected. While I knew this was somehow based on real life war practices I assumed it was heavily spiced up for entertainment value. Now I know better.
Who dares wins
- SAS motto
Thanks to some romantic notions I had around the small commando units and despite my general misgivings on the topic of war I decided to pick up this book which describes the history of the British Special Air Service (SAS) and some of the memorable missions they conducted. The SAS was the first of its kind and has since its conception inspired many future military leaders as well as movie directors. This is the first time the official SAS Archives dealing with World War II could be consulted and with Ben Macintyre an experienced writer with a gift for flowing prose was put in charge of looking into these files and extracting an engaging narrative from them. An exploit in which he succeeded remarkably well, through the well-measured use of a flurry of anecdotes but mainly because the story of SAS is such a gripping one in itself.
Macintyre zooms in on some of the most characteristic members of the regiment that consisted entirely of colourful people with a knack for thinking outside of the box, bending rules and breaking their bones. Colour doesn't come thanks to only qualities. Most of these men had quirks and troubles, sometimes of a most explosive kind, and also these are described in the book, ensuring that while you read these frankly fantastic stories you never forget you're reading about real people in real situations. The narrative starts with the founding of the SAS, goes over the "gentlemanly" operations conducted in the North African deserts against Rommel's troops, moves to missions in Italy and France and ends with the ever more atrocious encounters in Germany during the final stage of the war. The first part of the book largely coincided with my views on the regiment that were based on the game, namely that they were mainly a tactical organisation intent on intelligence gathering and destroying important equipment, fuel depots and transport lines with as little death and injury possible. But soon it's clear that this is war, not a fairy tale, and inadvertently the dead bodies start piling up. Even these "romantic soldiers" dealt in blood and death, and many of the smiling faces you see in this book's photographs have faced gruesome ends. But as the opening quote has shown, the SAS inflicted more damage to the Germans than they had to endure and the death toll on the German side is quite staggering. For the first bunker of Germans that was shot up and cleared out there was a high emphasis on how cruel and vicious it had seemed, but not much later it becomes business as usual, and the chapters are simply rounded off with a quick enumeration of the mission statistics that illustrate the high success rate, which is to say: hundreds of dead nazis. This is clearly a book about those who won the war and little thought is spared for those who lost.
The anecdotes range from funny stories about bagpipes on the battlefield to traumatizing experiences of murdered children and the liberation of a concentration camp. It offers a good balance between the personal perspective of some of the soldiers on the one hand and the broader context in which they operated on the other, so that the end result is an easy-to-follow narrative that, while maybe too romantic in some instances, will keep you on the edge of your seat and teach you more about how David Stirling, the founder of SAS, changed the war paradigm of two opposing fronts looking each other in the eye. Armies needed to watch their backs from then on. While this book is based on historical archives and deals in facts, it doesn't read like a dry history book because it's just so damn entertaining.
I don't know how this book compares to the (auto)biographies of the soldiers who were part of this daring regiment, but I can definitely recommend it as a first read on what it's like to fight behind enemy lines. Exciting, frightening, adventurous, romantic, tragic, sometimes morally dubious and, most of all, disturbingly real.
July 4, 2022
I could write pages about this book which I found fascinating but I will spare you my tortured rhetoric and keep it short.
The SAS (Special Air Service) was founded during WWII when Britain was on the verge of losing the battle against Hitler and information about it was classified for years after the war. The author finally gained access to it and in conjunction with personal diaries, interviews, etc. has provided the reader with a riveting tale of bravery and deception.
The SAS, which today are called "special forces", was the brainchild of a rather unconventional soldier. Lt. David Stirling who felt that dropping men behind enemy lines to destroy airplanes, fuel supplies, railroads, and cause general disruption was essential. It was not an idea well received but Stirling prevailed since Churchill was enamored with the idea. Stirling gathered a group of men who were as unconventional as he was and their first target was the African desert against the forces of the feared "Desert Fox", Erwin Rommel. And so it began.
I will go no further since the SAS adventures were many and varied and the author covers them in detail that will keep the reader engrossed. This is a must-read book for any WWII buff and I highly recommend it. A true five star read!
The SAS (Special Air Service) was founded during WWII when Britain was on the verge of losing the battle against Hitler and information about it was classified for years after the war. The author finally gained access to it and in conjunction with personal diaries, interviews, etc. has provided the reader with a riveting tale of bravery and deception.
The SAS, which today are called "special forces", was the brainchild of a rather unconventional soldier. Lt. David Stirling who felt that dropping men behind enemy lines to destroy airplanes, fuel supplies, railroads, and cause general disruption was essential. It was not an idea well received but Stirling prevailed since Churchill was enamored with the idea. Stirling gathered a group of men who were as unconventional as he was and their first target was the African desert against the forces of the feared "Desert Fox", Erwin Rommel. And so it began.
I will go no further since the SAS adventures were many and varied and the author covers them in detail that will keep the reader engrossed. This is a must-read book for any WWII buff and I highly recommend it. A true five star read!
October 17, 2016
I received this book at no cost through the GR Giveaway program in the expectation of a review.
According to the author, much of this book has been held in secrecy for 70 years. He had full access to the WWII archives of the Special Air Service, better known as the SAS. A damn shame if this is the first time some of these stories have been told. There is little here that would have compromised the post-1947 modern SAS (SAS was disbanded in ’45 and reborn a few years later). This book only deals with the unit through the end of WWII.
The brainchild of David Stirling (although he gives credit to Jock Lewes), the SAS gets a start in North Africa with the Brits fighting the Italians and Germans. The first mission, Operation Squatter, does not go well.
Only 21 of 55 men return from the mission, having never fired a shot or caused any damage. Things go better later and the SAS grows into a formidable force, striking from the shadows and disappearing into the vast deserts. The men and the stories are epic, daring, crazy. Toward the end of the desert campaign, Stirling is captured by the Germans as he tries to link up with the US forces from Operation Torch. This had a major, negative impact on the SAS in the Italian campaign.
The SAS is renamed the Special Raiding Squadron and (mis)used as commandos in Sicily and Italy. They suffer awful casualties assaulting various hard targets. This would continue throughout the war, at various times. Eventually, the SAS reappears, grows larger and is used in Europe starting on D-Day. The missions in Europe are tremendously aggressive. Hitler’s order to execute commandos takes a heavy toll of the SAS and allies fighting this new guerilla war. It was interesting to learn that the French were one of the SAS squadrons in North Africa, and would form 2 SAS regiments while the Belgians would have another when the war moved to Europe. The French SAS are occasionally mentioned and they were just as brave and daring (and crazy) as the Brits. Many stories are told of incredible daring and bravery.
This book gets 4 Stars because it has no maps or photos. However, it is an uncorrected proof copy and I suspect the retail version with reference material would earn the fifth star. Recommended!
According to the author, much of this book has been held in secrecy for 70 years. He had full access to the WWII archives of the Special Air Service, better known as the SAS. A damn shame if this is the first time some of these stories have been told. There is little here that would have compromised the post-1947 modern SAS (SAS was disbanded in ’45 and reborn a few years later). This book only deals with the unit through the end of WWII.
The brainchild of David Stirling (although he gives credit to Jock Lewes), the SAS gets a start in North Africa with the Brits fighting the Italians and Germans. The first mission, Operation Squatter, does not go well.
Only 21 of 55 men return from the mission, having never fired a shot or caused any damage. Things go better later and the SAS grows into a formidable force, striking from the shadows and disappearing into the vast deserts. The men and the stories are epic, daring, crazy. Toward the end of the desert campaign, Stirling is captured by the Germans as he tries to link up with the US forces from Operation Torch. This had a major, negative impact on the SAS in the Italian campaign.
The SAS is renamed the Special Raiding Squadron and (mis)used as commandos in Sicily and Italy. They suffer awful casualties assaulting various hard targets. This would continue throughout the war, at various times. Eventually, the SAS reappears, grows larger and is used in Europe starting on D-Day. The missions in Europe are tremendously aggressive. Hitler’s order to execute commandos takes a heavy toll of the SAS and allies fighting this new guerilla war. It was interesting to learn that the French were one of the SAS squadrons in North Africa, and would form 2 SAS regiments while the Belgians would have another when the war moved to Europe. The French SAS are occasionally mentioned and they were just as brave and daring (and crazy) as the Brits. Many stories are told of incredible daring and bravery.
This book gets 4 Stars because it has no maps or photos. However, it is an uncorrected proof copy and I suspect the retail version with reference material would earn the fifth star. Recommended!
December 31, 2024
***Some mild spoilers, though these are real people, so I don't know how much that applies here.***
In the last couple of years, I have developed a deep interest in learning more about both World Wars. Although I read a few books on WWI last year, I definitely spent more time tracking down and collecting books than I did reading them. This year is when I start to make a decent dent in that new collection. Initially I was going to focus only on WWI and then move on eventually to WWII. But in late 2022 I watched the BBC drama adaptation of Rogue Heroes and it ended up being one my favourite shows. I'll be honest and say I only watched it because it is a Steven Knight show. Although I don't love everything he writes/produces, when I do enjoy them, it is intensely so! Peaky Blinders is a show I became hooked on, a violent gangster drama that frequently features Cillian Murphy (dramatic cheekbones, intense pale eyes, perfectly dressed) striding through the mist, Nick Cave or Jack White singing as he does so. There are often beautiful horses.
Taboo, which features Tom Hardy, wearing a magnificent hat, striding around the gloomy British countryside (my preferred kind), obsessively in love with the one woman who really should be off limits. Once again, there is a beautiful horse.
Locke, where Tom Hardy spends the entire film in a car talking on the phone with an unidentifiable accent, and it is somehow an unbearably tense watch.
On the other hand, I haven't yet watched his Dickens adaptations. Perhaps I will enjoy them, but I feel so attached to the source material that I am not overly enthusiastic about a grittier, sexed up version. And I remain on the fence about All The Light We Cannot See merely because I have owned the book for years but have not yet felt the need to read it. I'm not sure why, it just hasn't appealed yet.
This is a long-winded way of saying, Rogue Heroes was not a show would have bothered with if Knight hadn't been attached. (By the way, I'm sure the first time I watched it, it was called SAS: Rogue Heroes and then when I rewatched it later in the year, the title online, and the episodes of the show, had been updated to be simply Rogue Heroes. For some reason this really threw me off). Thankfully he was, I watched, and a new obsession with the early days of the SAS was born.
It seems strange to me now that just over a year ago I had barely considered the SAS - I have thought of it so often now that it feels like a lifelong interest. Well, the WWII era to be specific. Although I'm sure that there have been many other interesting periods, it's this early period of embarking on a new kind of warfare, collecting up the lethal misfits and sending them in behind enemy lines, at night, causing as much damage as possible (mainly to German aircraft) and then slipping away again.
"At the most grinding, boring, colourless and perilous period of the desert war, Stirling's raiders added a dash of exotic adventure, a reputation for indomitability at a moment when Rommel threatened to dominate the battlefield. Few in the unit were conscious of it, but theirs was a psychological, even a theatrical role, as well as a military one."
The three main men focused on in the show are David Stirling, Jock Lewes and Paddy Mayne. This is true of the book too, although often they take a backseat to other important members, some that I presume will feature in the next season, some that seem to have been omitted (David's brother Bill Stirling, for example). Paddy Mayne was my favourite, closely followed by Jock Lewes. Both seemed to be incredibly intense, brilliant men, although in quite different ways. Despite having my favourites, all of the men gathered together were interesting. Misfits is probably too mild of a word, but I keep returning to it. Military misfits.
The early days in the desert alternate between difficult and often tragic - the first mission 'Operation Squatter' was disastrous - 55 men parachuted into the desert. 21 returned. Among the dead was Eoin McGonigal, who was, at the very least, Paddy Mayne's best friend.
"Though he never spoke if it, the loss of Eoin McGonigal devastated Paddy Mayne. 'Eoin McGonigal was the one person who liked Paddy before he became a hero,' said one who knew them both. One of Mayne's biographers goes further: 'If there was a real love in [Mayne's] life, it was his friend Eoin McGonigal.' Something snapped in Mayne when McGonigal died."
Yet for all the obvious danger the casualties, the tough terrain, there was something irresistable, even fun at times, about that period. Mad men driving around, blowing things up - at times I was carried away with the adventure of it. Impressed by Lewes building his own bomb, something that could have gone horribly wrong (tinkering with explosives and oil in the desert!) yet worked. His excitement was infectious. There were the antics of Mayne: "Once drunk, according to a report on the opertaion, 'Capt. Mayne went through the weird rites of demonstrating how one should not fire at night: machine guns, light machine guns, tommy guns, pistols, and God knows what other intricate pieces of mechanism'. The desert exploded with noise as Mayne loosed off every gun he could find into the night sky, and then fell asleep in the sand. The War Diary report concludes: 'Casualties: Incredible as it may seem, nil.'" And: "Paddy Mayne wore a 'sleepy grin as he lay in the shadow of his jeep reading a Penguin and flicking away the occasional fly'. Pleydell saw he was reading The Spanish Farm trilogy by Ralph Hale Mottram, First World War novels depicting an oasis of calm in the midst of a brutal war."
Inevitably of course, the reality of war crops up again. Bill Fraser had a hellish couple of weeks:
"In the space of a fortnight, Fraser had almost died of thirst, drunk his own urine, crawled across a minefield, dodged bullets, hijacked a German car, eaten a tin of semi-cremated beef, crossed the front line and trudged for nine days across 150 miles of desert. Reunited with his dog Withers, and utterly exhausted, he made his way to the tent he had vacated six weeks earlier, and was understandably surprised to find that, since it was assumed he was dead, his bed was now occupied by someone else: specifically, the Conservative MP for Lancaster."
And of course, there was the death of Lewes, which was slightly different to the show - in real life he never left the jeep. I was braced for this loss, but the added detail, and confirmation that the detail of his unopened letter back at camp accepting his marriage proposal did indeed happen, made me cry and I had to put the book aside for the night. "That night, Almonds wrote in his diary: 'I thought of Jock, one of the bravest men I have ever met, an officer and a gentleman, lying out in the desert barely covered in sand. No one will ever stop by his grave or pay homage to a brave heart that has ceased to beat. Not even a stone marks the spot.'
The grave of Jock Lewes was never found. This austere warrior from another age was buried where he fell, and absorbed into the battlefield without leaving a trace."
One of the most affecting scenes in both book and show was Paddy Mayne trying to find Eoin McGonigal's grave/body: "Mayne never told anyone else about his secret attempt to find the remains of his beloved friend, for that would have revealed the other, gentler side to Paddy Mayne, and a hidden broken heart." He did however write to Eoin's mother to tell he that he had searched for him.
In many ways, it seems David Stirling was not the brilliant soldier his two main comrades were. He seemed to blunder into things, had a car crash that killed a journalist, Arthur Merton, caused Fitzroy Maclean a broken arm, collarbone and fractured skull. injuries to others also included three crushed vertebrae for one Randolph Churchill, son of Winston, the very man he was trying to impress with the success of his unorthodox unit. Yet despite these disasters, he brought this group together, and kept it going despite huge odds. He was a brilliant organiser, and had a deep belief in what he could achieve. To his credit, he pulled off some incredible feats. While others were more formidable, more ferocious, it was Stirling who had the foresight to bring them together. His capture was a genuine blow, and before long the SAS moves to Europe, and Stirling eventually ends up in Colditz.
"The force, now composed of two regiments, would plunge into the war in Europe under the leadership of a fiery, inspiring, occasionally violent Northern Irishman. The SAS under Paddy Mayne would be a very different force."
I have other books about the SAS that I will read soon, but this book was a fantastic introduction, brilliant, compelling, always intensely readable. The author is excellent. If you enjoyed the recent BBC drama, read this. If you liked the book, watch the show. I was very impressed with it. A few years ago there was also a BBC documentary made of the book: SAS Rogue Warriors. it is equally fascinating, with incredible archive footage, including a radiant Jock Lewes, and an interview with Mike Sadler, then aged 96. He died only a few weeks ago. His ability to navigate in the desert, in pitch black, to get the SAS to their destinations, astounds me. He was 21 at the time. Listening to him talk was a particular highlight.
Mike Sadler obituary:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/202...
Jock Lewes:
https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/lewes
"Lewes was stern, workaholic and slightly priggish, with a deep 'contempt for decadence', according to his biographer. He had no sense of humour, and 'his austerity could be simply too much for other mortals."
"As for Lewes himself, the disciplined deprivation seemed to give him strength. He wrote: 'I can keep going almost indefinitely on one cup of tea at breakfast, and tea and one glass of water at lunch and supplemented by two or three oranges'."
Paddy Mayne:
https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/paddy-m...
https://www.forces.net/news/army/sas-...
http://www.badassoftheweek.com/mayne....
"Stirling's final choice of junior officer was both inspired and quite odd: inspired because the officer in question would set an unparalleled standard for courage and leadership in the SAS; and odd because he was also given to volcanic explosions of temper and sometimes violent insubordination. He was truculent, troubled and dangerously unpredictable, particularly when drunk, which was often. A celebrated international rugby player, a frustrated poet and bar-room brawler, this man was 17 stone of highly volatile human explosive."
"Mayne had parachuted into France with a wind-up gramophone player strapped to his leg and a handful of his favourite records in his rucksack."
David Stirling:
"David Stirling decided he would become an artist, in Paris. He had little talent for painting. But he did have a beret, and a yen for the bohemian life."
"Stirling insisted on driving the Blitz Buggy himself, though he was an exceptionally inattentive and dangerous driver: 'One hand on the wheel, puffing away quietly at his pipe, and looking at the scenery all around, and all the time doing a cool sixty, for all the world as if he's out for a run down the Great North Road'."
I'm not sure why but it was an absolute mission to get these photos to appear in this review, so I hope they work, as I wanted to show the real people as well as the actors.
Extract/slightly edited article version of the book in the Daily Mail part I:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...
Daily Mail part II:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...
UPDATED DECEMBER 2024:
This ended up being my favourite book from 2024 and a firm favourite overall too.
August 9, 2017
Mr. Macintyre has written a well-researched and engaging look at the British Special Air Service (SAS – the forerunner of modern Special Forces) in World War II. He follows them from their inception in the Egyptian Desert, the expansion into 2 regiments with different nationalities - although the author focuses on the British contingent, their work in the Italian campaign and finally their support of the D-Day landings and the final campaigns in Germany.
In telling the story of their beginnings, he looks at the personality of the founder of the unit – David Sterling. Sterling, a junior Guards officer, was a misfit in the tradition bound British army in Africa. He saw an opportunity for a specialized raiding force and had the political connections to be given the chance to form such a force. As Mr. Macintyre tells the formation story, he looks at the unusual training regimen for learning to parachute, , the unusual recruits they attracted, . among other things. First designated Detachment L of the SAS, the author explains the reasoning behind the unit designation.
Eventually they became a very good asset for the British in North Africa, but their first attempt at a raid was an absolute disaster. They were supposed to parachute in and destroy an Axis airfield, but the weather was very bad. Sterling decided the raid must go on and the people jumping in along with their equipment and were scattered from "Hell to breakfast" as my mother used to say and unable to accomplish their tasks. More than half never made in back. This caused a rethinking of tactics and the airborne method of insertion was abandoned and the SAS formed a partnership with the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) to ferry them to their targets and back. This particular item was new to me, I had always thought the SAS and the LRDG were the same unit. The author does a very good job of telling of the SAS experiences in the Desert and how the dance between the Axis and the SAS went as the Germans/Italians adapted to the threat of the SAS on both airfields and port facilities and the SAS adapted back.
As the Desert War ends, Mr. Macintyre looks at how the SAS was used in Italy. He feels that they were misused, becoming a much more conventional assault force and taking very heavy casualties as a result.
The author then moves the story to Northern France and the D-Day landings. In this section, the author looks at how the SAS supported the French Underground and how that support assisted in delaying the march of the 2nd SS Panzer Division from Southern France to Normandy. In this role they run into Hitler’s commando execution order and at least 60 members of the SAS are summarily executed by German Forces. As the Allied forces break out of Normandy, how the SAS was used changes once again and they become the eyes and ears of the advancing Allied Armies ( okay mainly the British forces) In this role they are the first allied troops into the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp. The story is especially heart breaking! The men of the SAS said they could smell the camp for miles before getting there and couldn’t figure out what it was.
In addition to the combat record, the author does a good job of painting the personalities of various members of the SAS. These include LTC Sterling and his replacement as commander of the SAS after he is captured in Africa - Paddy Mayne.
After the war the SAS is disbanded until the British military realizes the need for that type of unit in the Malaya insurgency and it is reactivated.
All in all this is an excellent look at the beginnings of modern Special Forces and a really good read. 4.25 stars if Good Reads allowed so I rounded down
In telling the story of their beginnings, he looks at the personality of the founder of the unit – David Sterling. Sterling, a junior Guards officer, was a misfit in the tradition bound British army in Africa. He saw an opportunity for a specialized raiding force and had the political connections to be given the chance to form such a force. As Mr. Macintyre tells the formation story, he looks at the unusual training regimen for learning to parachute, , the unusual recruits they attracted, . among other things. First designated Detachment L of the SAS, the author explains the reasoning behind the unit designation.
Eventually they became a very good asset for the British in North Africa, but their first attempt at a raid was an absolute disaster. They were supposed to parachute in and destroy an Axis airfield, but the weather was very bad. Sterling decided the raid must go on and the people jumping in along with their equipment and were scattered from "Hell to breakfast" as my mother used to say and unable to accomplish their tasks. More than half never made in back. This caused a rethinking of tactics and the airborne method of insertion was abandoned and the SAS formed a partnership with the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) to ferry them to their targets and back. This particular item was new to me, I had always thought the SAS and the LRDG were the same unit. The author does a very good job of telling of the SAS experiences in the Desert and how the dance between the Axis and the SAS went as the Germans/Italians adapted to the threat of the SAS on both airfields and port facilities and the SAS adapted back.
As the Desert War ends, Mr. Macintyre looks at how the SAS was used in Italy. He feels that they were misused, becoming a much more conventional assault force and taking very heavy casualties as a result.
The author then moves the story to Northern France and the D-Day landings. In this section, the author looks at how the SAS supported the French Underground and how that support assisted in delaying the march of the 2nd SS Panzer Division from Southern France to Normandy. In this role they run into Hitler’s commando execution order and at least 60 members of the SAS are summarily executed by German Forces. As the Allied forces break out of Normandy, how the SAS was used changes once again and they become the eyes and ears of the advancing Allied Armies ( okay mainly the British forces) In this role they are the first allied troops into the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp. The story is especially heart breaking! The men of the SAS said they could smell the camp for miles before getting there and couldn’t figure out what it was.
In addition to the combat record, the author does a good job of painting the personalities of various members of the SAS. These include LTC Sterling and his replacement as commander of the SAS after he is captured in Africa - Paddy Mayne.
After the war the SAS is disbanded until the British military realizes the need for that type of unit in the Malaya insurgency and it is reactivated.
All in all this is an excellent look at the beginnings of modern Special Forces and a really good read. 4.25 stars if Good Reads allowed so I rounded down
December 19, 2016
This was an informative book about the SAS, the British Special Air Service, formed in WWII, in North Africa. It was the brainchild of David Stirling, an eccentric Scottish aristocrat who was not a very good soldier in the traditional sense. But his offbeat, unusual mind came up with the idea of a small mobile force that go behind German lines and wreak havoc on the unprepared Afrika Corps.
Stirling was a terrible University student: "If he ever opened a book, the event was not recorded."
He was contemptuous of mid-level military bureaucracy, referring to it as "layer upon layer of fossilized shit."
How he managed to bypass this bureaucracy and start the SAS is the story of this book. The book is well written and easy to read. It does not go beyond WWII, except to explain that the SAS was disbanded from 1945-47. It still exists today.
The author wrote this book with the cooperation of the SAS.
I rate this book 3.5 out of 5 stars(rounded up to 4). Thanks to the publisher and LibraryThing for sending me this uncorrected proof copy. The table of contents lists a bibliography and a list of maps, which were not in this book. I believe that with the maps & bibliography, it would be a 4 star book.
Stirling was a terrible University student: "If he ever opened a book, the event was not recorded."
He was contemptuous of mid-level military bureaucracy, referring to it as "layer upon layer of fossilized shit."
How he managed to bypass this bureaucracy and start the SAS is the story of this book. The book is well written and easy to read. It does not go beyond WWII, except to explain that the SAS was disbanded from 1945-47. It still exists today.
The author wrote this book with the cooperation of the SAS.
I rate this book 3.5 out of 5 stars(rounded up to 4). Thanks to the publisher and LibraryThing for sending me this uncorrected proof copy. The table of contents lists a bibliography and a list of maps, which were not in this book. I believe that with the maps & bibliography, it would be a 4 star book.
October 17, 2016
Rogue Heroes: The History of the SAS, Britain's Secret Special Forces Unit That Sabotaged the Nazis and Changed the Nature of War
by Ben Macintyre
This is one of the best written books to explore the origins of the SAS and the first ever to do so with not only it’s blessing but full access to it’s library of notes, recordings, maps and an incredible amount of first hand accounts. It makes for compelling and unforgettable reading.
It unflinchingly captures both the romance and the tragedy of being involved in the Special Forces.
“It took one sort of courage to attack an enemy airfield in the middle of the night, but quite another to kill a little boy with his insides blown out”
Indeed the hardest moments to read are the ones where the readers hope that this is all daring raids and heroic rescues is torn brutally apart by the death of a man whose passing simply does not fit the narrative. In the majority of fiction the good guys win and the bad guys lose, the side characters come and , but the one constant throughout this read was the loss of good men for no good reasons. Bad weather blowing entire planes off course and scattering the sticks, injured men having to be left in the desert or the jungle with their only hope of survival being capture; simply doing their jobs resulted in unfathomable losses.
At any time proposing and implementing a new system of warfare has the potential to be a dangerous course of action but in the middle of a war the incredibly high stakes amplifies everything. Something new and untested is being attempted and it’s failure or success will have a huge bearing on both the direction of the war and the future existence of the Unit. Rogue Heroes is a powerful and unforgettable reading experience. Ben Macintyre does a superb job capturing the sense of adventure that inspired these men to fight a different way and the intensity and commitment with which they did so.
Very highly recommended. 4.5 Stars
by Ben Macintyre
This is one of the best written books to explore the origins of the SAS and the first ever to do so with not only it’s blessing but full access to it’s library of notes, recordings, maps and an incredible amount of first hand accounts. It makes for compelling and unforgettable reading.
It unflinchingly captures both the romance and the tragedy of being involved in the Special Forces.
“It took one sort of courage to attack an enemy airfield in the middle of the night, but quite another to kill a little boy with his insides blown out”
Indeed the hardest moments to read are the ones where the readers hope that this is all daring raids and heroic rescues is torn brutally apart by the death of a man whose passing simply does not fit the narrative. In the majority of fiction the good guys win and the bad guys lose, the side characters come and , but the one constant throughout this read was the loss of good men for no good reasons. Bad weather blowing entire planes off course and scattering the sticks, injured men having to be left in the desert or the jungle with their only hope of survival being capture; simply doing their jobs resulted in unfathomable losses.
At any time proposing and implementing a new system of warfare has the potential to be a dangerous course of action but in the middle of a war the incredibly high stakes amplifies everything. Something new and untested is being attempted and it’s failure or success will have a huge bearing on both the direction of the war and the future existence of the Unit. Rogue Heroes is a powerful and unforgettable reading experience. Ben Macintyre does a superb job capturing the sense of adventure that inspired these men to fight a different way and the intensity and commitment with which they did so.
Very highly recommended. 4.5 Stars
March 23, 2023
Ever since I was a child, I've been interested in the North African war in WW2 - too much time spent watching Rat Patrol re-runs, I guess. Rogue Heroes is the real story of the origin of the SAS in the desert war and their activities afterwards in Europe, and it is the story of the peculiar cast of characters who were its founding members. David Stirling is generally credited as the founder of the unit, and without doubt, he did the most to keep it in being, by pulling strings via upper-class connections, when the "real" Army wanted it disbanded. But it was Jock Lewes who instilled discipline into the unit, and who filtered out those with insufficient grit or intelligence, and Stirling treated Lewes as his equal in every way. Lewes' early death in combat made Stirling the better known of the two, but Lewes' imprint on the SAS was indelible.
The SAS was initially conceived as a paratroop commando unit to operate behind enemy lines, but it quickly became apparent to Stirling (after a disastrous first airborne operation) that by far the better way to approach their prime targets, German airfields, was to drive through the desert to those objectives with the help of the British Long Range Desert Group. Using this method, and newly devised plastic explosive bombs with timers, the SAS destroyed hundreds of German aircraft on the ground by infiltrating German installations at night, and occasionally in broad daylight. This had helpful effects for the Allies beyond the destruction of German planes; the Germans had to divert resources to defend against the SAS raids, and German morale suffered. Ultimately the increased German vigilance and search-and-destroy patrolling by German forces looking for SAS made the raids almost impractical, but by then, Rommel had been defeated by the combined British/US forces.
The best parts of the book are the anecdotes about Stirling and interesting people he attracted to SAS like Fitzroy Maclean (a sitting member of Parliament), Lord George Jellicoe, Randolph Churchill, and others, including a whole squadron of Free French troops. At one point, Stirling's squadron captured an aristocratic German doctor, Markus Lutterotti, (Rommel's personal physician) and the doctor, on meeting George Jellicoe, said, "Say, aren't you Lord Jellicoe? I believe you may know my wife." Hauptman Lutterotti's wife was of the Austrian nobility and had spent a good deal of time in London where she met Jellicoe. Another time, Stirling met with Churchill in Cairo and convinced the PM to give full support to the build-up of the SAS in North Africa. Stirling also took Churchill's son into the unit on an ad hoc basis, mostly to garner support from his father, but Randolph Churchill ended up, quite by chance, participating in one of the more dangerous SAS missions undertaken in Africa. One of the funniest bits is the greeting given to the SAS' first medical officer by David Stirling, quoted verbatim by the doctor in a book he published later about his experiences in the desert.
Once the SAS moved to Sicily, higher commanders misused the unit as shock troops, and terrible casualties resulted. By this point Stirling had been captured, in one of the last North African raids, and so was unable to advocate for the proper use of the force as a behind the lines raiding unit. Once the focus of operations moved to France after D-Day, the SAS began to function in a manner more appropriate to Stirling's conception; as heavily armed support for the French Resistance, participating in many operations to disrupt the Germans' rear area and to delay the progress of German units toward Normandy. SAS units were parachuted into France and linked up with the Resistance to carry out these missions.
In all this was a very good book with only a few slow spots. Having served in both heavy mechanized Army units and special operations units, I do not think that Ben MacIntyre puts the role of the SAS fully into context with regard to the wider war. There is no doubt that the SAS made a real contribution, especially in North Africa, but it was the many thousands of regular British, US, and French Army tank and artillery and infantry units that won the war. The SAS did make permanent the idea that "irregular" forces, deployed correctly, can carry out lightning strikes that disorient or demoralize the enemy, and in certain cases, they can carry out "surgical strikes" to capture or destroy an important target. Their legacy is the many special operations units which have been established in Canada, Australia, France, and in the US (Delta Force). Those kinds of units have a valid place in the inventory of great nation's military units, but they can't be expected to do everything, or to perform miracles, as Hollywood so likes to make it seem. To use a current example, the outcome of the war in Ukraine is being determined by artillery and tanks, not by special operators.
This book is highly recommended, if only for the stories of the SAS in the desert campaign.
The SAS was initially conceived as a paratroop commando unit to operate behind enemy lines, but it quickly became apparent to Stirling (after a disastrous first airborne operation) that by far the better way to approach their prime targets, German airfields, was to drive through the desert to those objectives with the help of the British Long Range Desert Group. Using this method, and newly devised plastic explosive bombs with timers, the SAS destroyed hundreds of German aircraft on the ground by infiltrating German installations at night, and occasionally in broad daylight. This had helpful effects for the Allies beyond the destruction of German planes; the Germans had to divert resources to defend against the SAS raids, and German morale suffered. Ultimately the increased German vigilance and search-and-destroy patrolling by German forces looking for SAS made the raids almost impractical, but by then, Rommel had been defeated by the combined British/US forces.
The best parts of the book are the anecdotes about Stirling and interesting people he attracted to SAS like Fitzroy Maclean (a sitting member of Parliament), Lord George Jellicoe, Randolph Churchill, and others, including a whole squadron of Free French troops. At one point, Stirling's squadron captured an aristocratic German doctor, Markus Lutterotti, (Rommel's personal physician) and the doctor, on meeting George Jellicoe, said, "Say, aren't you Lord Jellicoe? I believe you may know my wife." Hauptman Lutterotti's wife was of the Austrian nobility and had spent a good deal of time in London where she met Jellicoe. Another time, Stirling met with Churchill in Cairo and convinced the PM to give full support to the build-up of the SAS in North Africa. Stirling also took Churchill's son into the unit on an ad hoc basis, mostly to garner support from his father, but Randolph Churchill ended up, quite by chance, participating in one of the more dangerous SAS missions undertaken in Africa. One of the funniest bits is the greeting given to the SAS' first medical officer by David Stirling, quoted verbatim by the doctor in a book he published later about his experiences in the desert.
Once the SAS moved to Sicily, higher commanders misused the unit as shock troops, and terrible casualties resulted. By this point Stirling had been captured, in one of the last North African raids, and so was unable to advocate for the proper use of the force as a behind the lines raiding unit. Once the focus of operations moved to France after D-Day, the SAS began to function in a manner more appropriate to Stirling's conception; as heavily armed support for the French Resistance, participating in many operations to disrupt the Germans' rear area and to delay the progress of German units toward Normandy. SAS units were parachuted into France and linked up with the Resistance to carry out these missions.
In all this was a very good book with only a few slow spots. Having served in both heavy mechanized Army units and special operations units, I do not think that Ben MacIntyre puts the role of the SAS fully into context with regard to the wider war. There is no doubt that the SAS made a real contribution, especially in North Africa, but it was the many thousands of regular British, US, and French Army tank and artillery and infantry units that won the war. The SAS did make permanent the idea that "irregular" forces, deployed correctly, can carry out lightning strikes that disorient or demoralize the enemy, and in certain cases, they can carry out "surgical strikes" to capture or destroy an important target. Their legacy is the many special operations units which have been established in Canada, Australia, France, and in the US (Delta Force). Those kinds of units have a valid place in the inventory of great nation's military units, but they can't be expected to do everything, or to perform miracles, as Hollywood so likes to make it seem. To use a current example, the outcome of the war in Ukraine is being determined by artillery and tanks, not by special operators.
This book is highly recommended, if only for the stories of the SAS in the desert campaign.
March 22, 2017
You can look through a lot of World War II history books written between 1945 and the end of the 20th century and not find more than a mention of the S.A.S. This group consisted of a small number of British Army soldiers (later linked with other countries' forces) that were primarily functioning in North Africa during the time the Allies were battling with Rommel to control this vast territory.
According to Ben Macintyre, their role and actions have required a high security clearance to review the documents that detail S.A.S. missions. Rogue Heroes may be the first book to look deeply and exclusively into their origins and how these troops may have affected the outcome of some familiar campaigns.
This book goes into detail on the personalities involved in creating and running the S.A.S. By the way, the initials stand for Special Air Service, a total misnomer. It was meant to fool the Nazis into thinking that these guys were going to be parachuting behind enemy lines to do their damage. In fact, they spent a lot of the early war in North Africa doing sabotage (using whatever transportation was available) on Rommel’s supply lines and generally trying to keep the Nazis distracted while Montgomery and the main British/Allied armies tried to counterattack and prevent a complete Nazi takeover of North Africa from Algeria to Egypt.
As a veteran of “rat patrol” dramatizations, I was glad to note how fair and balanced Macintyre makes his book. There is no attempt to make the S.A.S. more than it was – a very limited number of action-oriented soldiers who were willing to go into high-risk situations and create havoc. Many of them were captured and not treated well. Many of them had narrow escapes.
The story concerning Corporal “Jack” Sillito grabbed and held my attention. Sillito was part of a small group trying to sabotage a rail line being used by the Nazis. They came under attack by a night patrol and in the battle he became separated. He didn’t know if any of his comrades had survived, been taken prisoner or killed. He had only a few items, no weapon, just a compass and a small canteen of water meant to last less than 24 hours. His choice was between surrendering or trying to make it across 180 miles of desert (not a typo) to where the rest of his S.A.S. group was camped. In choosing the latter, he endured some incredible experiences, near capture, heat stroke and was finally found barely alive almost two weeks later. Most of his buddies never made it back, and he never was the same.
Macintyre provides new details about this legendary WWII group and presents their goals and accomplishments in a way that never seems to compromise historical accuracy while relating the details in a compelling narrative. There is more to the history of the S.A.S. (known for its covert reconnaissance, raids and surveillance) because the UK has resurrected it several times, but if you are interested, this book is the place to begin.
According to Ben Macintyre, their role and actions have required a high security clearance to review the documents that detail S.A.S. missions. Rogue Heroes may be the first book to look deeply and exclusively into their origins and how these troops may have affected the outcome of some familiar campaigns.
This book goes into detail on the personalities involved in creating and running the S.A.S. By the way, the initials stand for Special Air Service, a total misnomer. It was meant to fool the Nazis into thinking that these guys were going to be parachuting behind enemy lines to do their damage. In fact, they spent a lot of the early war in North Africa doing sabotage (using whatever transportation was available) on Rommel’s supply lines and generally trying to keep the Nazis distracted while Montgomery and the main British/Allied armies tried to counterattack and prevent a complete Nazi takeover of North Africa from Algeria to Egypt.
As a veteran of “rat patrol” dramatizations, I was glad to note how fair and balanced Macintyre makes his book. There is no attempt to make the S.A.S. more than it was – a very limited number of action-oriented soldiers who were willing to go into high-risk situations and create havoc. Many of them were captured and not treated well. Many of them had narrow escapes.
The story concerning Corporal “Jack” Sillito grabbed and held my attention. Sillito was part of a small group trying to sabotage a rail line being used by the Nazis. They came under attack by a night patrol and in the battle he became separated. He didn’t know if any of his comrades had survived, been taken prisoner or killed. He had only a few items, no weapon, just a compass and a small canteen of water meant to last less than 24 hours. His choice was between surrendering or trying to make it across 180 miles of desert (not a typo) to where the rest of his S.A.S. group was camped. In choosing the latter, he endured some incredible experiences, near capture, heat stroke and was finally found barely alive almost two weeks later. Most of his buddies never made it back, and he never was the same.
Macintyre provides new details about this legendary WWII group and presents their goals and accomplishments in a way that never seems to compromise historical accuracy while relating the details in a compelling narrative. There is more to the history of the S.A.S. (known for its covert reconnaissance, raids and surveillance) because the UK has resurrected it several times, but if you are interested, this book is the place to begin.
Read
August 30, 2017Macintyre has a knack for finding outrageous stories from history and turning them into fascinating books that read like thrillers. This one is about the SAS, Britain’s secret fighting force that helped turn the tide of World War II and shaped how special forces units operate still to this day. I am always riveted by these tales!
Backlist bump: Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal by Ben Macintyre
Tune in to our weekly podcast dedicated to all things new books, All The Books: http://bookriot.com/listen/shows/allt...
Backlist bump: Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal by Ben Macintyre
Tune in to our weekly podcast dedicated to all things new books, All The Books: http://bookriot.com/listen/shows/allt...
May 12, 2021
So much fun!
Officially, officially obsessed with Ben Macintyre and his real-life spy/adventure sagas!
Officially, officially obsessed with Ben Macintyre and his real-life spy/adventure sagas!
November 15, 2023
Listening with Simon. It seems especially poignant to be reading this book today, November 11th, Veterans Day. I am thinking about my grandad who served as a member of Britain's Special Boat Service (SBS) during World War II.
Update 11/15/23: We finished listening this morning. What an epic book. Amazing research, writing, and narration by Ben Macintyre.
Update 11/15/23: We finished listening this morning. What an epic book. Amazing research, writing, and narration by Ben Macintyre.
February 8, 2019
Five big stars for this book! I loved MacIntyre’s telling of the founding and WWII service of the SAS. It’s quite the story, and MacIntyre does an excellent job showing both successes and setbacks. He chooses a cast that is wide enough to cover the story, but small enough for a reader to follow. The men, like their mission, were unconventional, complicated, flawed, interesting, and sometimes very funny.
The SAS began in the deserts of North Africa, focused on attacking Axis air fields and supplies. The thinking was that a few men could cause a lot of havoc for the Germans and Italians. If they were successful, they would help the Allied war effort. If they weren’t successful, well, it was a comparatively small gamble in terms of lives and equipment.
The SAS didn’t always succeed, but they succeeded often enough to make a difference. Their partnership with the Long Range Desert Group helped them appear where the enemy wasn’t expecting them to blow up planes and fuel. Some of their exploits were jaw-dropping. The enemy gradually changed their defenses, and the SAS changed their tactics. The SAS was a persistent thorn in the enemies’ side, so effective that Hitler issued his infamous commando order calling for the summary execution of any Allied commandos and parachutists who were caught, even if caught while in uniform.
After the desert war, the SAS played roles in Italy, France, and Germany. They gathered information and struck the Nazis from within enemy lines. Their success took a toll, on the enemy, but also on the SAS men—physically and mentally.
When the war ended, the SAS was disbanded. But only for a few years. The unconventional warfare they fought was soon recognized as valuable, and the SAS was reborn. They are the model for most Special Forces units in existence today.
Note: I won an arc of this book on Goodreads a few years ago. But for the last while, I haven’t been getting to much in the way of nonfiction (in paper form) unless it’s related to one of my current research projects, so the book is still sitting on my bookshelf. I listened to the audiobook instead. The audiobook is read by the author. Not only is MacIntyre a talented author, but he’s also a talented narrator.
The SAS began in the deserts of North Africa, focused on attacking Axis air fields and supplies. The thinking was that a few men could cause a lot of havoc for the Germans and Italians. If they were successful, they would help the Allied war effort. If they weren’t successful, well, it was a comparatively small gamble in terms of lives and equipment.
The SAS didn’t always succeed, but they succeeded often enough to make a difference. Their partnership with the Long Range Desert Group helped them appear where the enemy wasn’t expecting them to blow up planes and fuel. Some of their exploits were jaw-dropping. The enemy gradually changed their defenses, and the SAS changed their tactics. The SAS was a persistent thorn in the enemies’ side, so effective that Hitler issued his infamous commando order calling for the summary execution of any Allied commandos and parachutists who were caught, even if caught while in uniform.
After the desert war, the SAS played roles in Italy, France, and Germany. They gathered information and struck the Nazis from within enemy lines. Their success took a toll, on the enemy, but also on the SAS men—physically and mentally.
When the war ended, the SAS was disbanded. But only for a few years. The unconventional warfare they fought was soon recognized as valuable, and the SAS was reborn. They are the model for most Special Forces units in existence today.
Note: I won an arc of this book on Goodreads a few years ago. But for the last while, I haven’t been getting to much in the way of nonfiction (in paper form) unless it’s related to one of my current research projects, so the book is still sitting on my bookshelf. I listened to the audiobook instead. The audiobook is read by the author. Not only is MacIntyre a talented author, but he’s also a talented narrator.
April 13, 2017
I loved the other books I've read by Ben Macintyre so when I heard about Rogue Heroes: The History of the SAS, Britain's Secret Special Forces Unit That Sabotaged the Nazis and Changed the Nature of War I was keen to read it. Whilst not as jaw dropping as Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal, or as edge-of-the-seat thrilling as Operation Mincemeat: How a Dead Man and a Bizarre Plan Fooled the Nazis and Assured an Allied Victory, it's nevertheless an absorbing read.
Ben Macintyre was the first person to be given full access to the Special Air Service (SAS) library which contained a wealth of varied and detailed information. By its nature, a WW2 history of the SAS lacks the compelling narrative which makes his other work so gripping but yet still contains some great anecdotes and memorable characters and - if you're interested in WW2 history - is well worth seeking out.
Ben Macintyre was the first person to be given full access to the Special Air Service (SAS) library which contained a wealth of varied and detailed information. By its nature, a WW2 history of the SAS lacks the compelling narrative which makes his other work so gripping but yet still contains some great anecdotes and memorable characters and - if you're interested in WW2 history - is well worth seeking out.
November 25, 2017
Really enjoyed this both exhaustive and episodic history of Britain's renegade special forces and the crazy risks they took in North Africa and Europe to help defeat Nazi Germany.
September 23, 2016
They Broke the Mold
“At 9:15 p.m., in pitch darkness, they [SAS team leader Bill Fraser and a small group of men] reached the airfield perimeter and slipped through the fence, carefully stepping over some tripwire booby traps; over the next thirty minutes they planted thirty-seven bombs, with staggered timers to ensure that all exploded at roughly the same moment…. The first bomb went off at forty-two minutes past midnight, followed by three more in quick succession as the attackers scrambled off the airfield…. The next morning…Fraser was summoned to report to the brigadier. ‘Sorry, Sir, I had to leave two aircraft on the ground as I ran out of explosives, but we destroyed thirty-seven.”
This is but one of dozens of episodes vividly rendered by Ben Macintyre in his latest book, which as its long subtitle declares, chronicles the history of the SAS, the unit that “sabotaged the Nazis and changed the nature of war.” This is no small claim, and Macintyre buttresses it with details drawn from the voluminous SAS regimental archives. He recounts the genesis of the unit, then moves on to its first (and often unsuccessful) baby steps in the African campaign, then on to later developments in the European theater, primarily Italy and Germany.
In his preface, Macintyre outlines his stance on the SAS:
“While many members of the wartime SAS exhibited extraordinary qualities, they were also human: flawed, occasionally cruel, and capable of making spectacular mistakes. The SAS has become a legend, but the true story contains darkness as well as light, tragedy and evil alongside heroism; it is a tale of unparalleled bravery and ingenuity, interspersed with moments of rank incompetence, raw brutality and touching human frailty.”
He also notes that while the history of the SAS is a “rattling adventure story,” he sought to reveal the “psychology of secret, unconventional warfare,” and the “reactions of ordinary people in extraordinary wartime circumstances.” Above all, he notes, “This is a book about the meaning of courage.”
Thus, Rogue Heroes focuses on individuals as well as attacks and campaigns. The men of SAS were a colorful lot, and Macintyre demonstrates a flair for the quick character study. (This I much appreciated, as it helped me remember who was who in the extensive cast of SAS figures.)
First and foremost was Lieutenant David Stirling, the founder of the SAS, an unfailingly polite but unconventional man. Stirling, scion of a famous Scottish family with deep connections in both the aristocracy and the upper echelons of the military, was initially regarded as “impertinent, incompetent, and profoundly irritating” by both his fellow officers and his superiors, yet he was endowed at the same time with phenomenal powers of concentration and great ingenuity.
While recovering in a hospital from his disastrous first parachute jump, Stirling came up with a vision that he then refined and zealously promoted: a unique fighting force with unprecedented independence and special skills, one made up of “fighters who were exceptionally brave but just short of irresponsible; disciplined but independent-minded; uncomplaining, unconventional and, when necessary, merciless.” Such men are not easily controlled, but then Stirling, whose contradictory traits rivalled those of his ideal soldiers, proved an inspired leader.
Macintyre is in his element as he gives thumbnail sketches of Stirling’s SAS recruits. Aside from Stirling, perhaps the most pivotal man was Paddy Mayne, a massive Irishman who had played for Ireland’s national rugby team. When sober, he seemed subdued and thoughtful, but Paddy was transformed by drink into a raging bull. Mayne led some of the most successful SAS attacks, but his actions in battle sometimes demonstrated almost suicidal bravery and at other times cold-blooded murder. Indeed, the SAS had more than its fair share of stone-cold killers, and the author does not romanticize or gloss over some of the more sordid and violent chapters in the unit’s history.
But the dark characters in this book are leavened by lighter ones, such as Captain Bob Walker-Brown, “who had joined the SAS after successfully tunnelling out of an Italian POW camp, crawling to liberty through the main sewer and then walking to Allied lines. He had an enormous moustache, a bluff sense of humour, an upper-class accent so fruity that the men barely understood his commands, and a habit of saying ‘what, what’ after every sentence, thus earning himself the nickname, ‘Captain What What.’”
Another was the first chaplain to the SAS, the Rev. Fraser McLuskey, “the parachute padre” who was found lying unconscious in a tree after his maiden jump. He was “a cheerful, self-mocking Scot with a wide, open face and an unshakeable, deeply examined faith,” and he tirelessly looked after the welfare of the men, helping treat the wounded, offering tea, cigarettes, paperback thrillers, or simply listening unjudgementally. McLuskey, who decided not to carry a gun, mused, “I think the men were glad to see the padre as a kind of symbol of the will of God for peace for all men.” The author, however, notes that “A man who fights with a gun can be brave, but a man who opts to take part in a shooting war without one may be braver still.”
Just as diverse as the soldiers were the many campaigns they engaged in. Essentially, each chapter of the book is a concise narrative of a major operation undertaken by the SAS. As these were generally carried out by small groups, there are brief synopses of the key figures involved, followed by a dramatic recounting of the action. Although this renders the structure of the book episodic, it is engrossing nontheless, particularly as the accounts are laced with flashes of humor and genuine drama. In fact, I found myself wondering how many of these exploits had already been mined (or will be mined) by Hollywood scripwriters.
Some operations were spectacular successes, while others were catastrophes. Macintyre, to his credit, cites the role that luck and German/Italian failings played in some of the successes, while he is equally objective in acknowledging the flaws leading to the failures. As promised, he cleaves to his goal of telling the unvarnished truth.
Macintyre characterizes the early fighting in Africa as a “gentleman’s war,” but this gave way to more savage and chaotic conditions when SAS operations shifted to Europe in the late stages of the war. The very success of the SAS tactics, which inflicted heavy losses upon and demoralized the Germans, led Hitler to issue his infamous “Commando Order,” which stipulated that any captured enemy soldiers found operating behind German lines would immediately be shot. Aside from fighting with what amounted to a death sentence if captured, the SAS was now fighting alongside various European partisan forces, who were a mixed bag, often poorly trained and equipped, prone to endless infighting and, on more than one occasion, betrayed by spies and informants.
As Allied forces drove the Germans into their homeland, “the tide of war turned in a welter of recriminations and blood-letting,” and the SAS, who had in the past laid ambushes for the enemy, now found themselves being ambushed, sometimes by civilians. One of the final scenes in the SAS’s European war took place when an SAS team on a reconnaissance foray became the first Allied soldiers to enter the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. In one of the most sobering chapters of the book, Macintyre describes the horrifying conditions the SAS men witnessed. One soldier wrote starkly, “This day at Belsen was the most horrible of my life.”
I have read most of Ben Macintyre’s work and enjoyed virtually all of it, yet this book, with its great sweep taking in the gamut/gauntlet of the SAS soldiers’ experience, is to my mind his most ambitious yet. He doesn’t claim to have penned the full and definitive history of the SAS during WWII, but I believe he made good on his promise to disclose “darkness as well as light, tragedy and evil alongside heroism.”
Note: I received an advanced reader’s copy of this book through the GoodReads “First Read” giveaway program. While I was told that writing a review was optional, I am happy to share my honest opinion on this latest work by one of my favorite nonfiction authors.
“At 9:15 p.m., in pitch darkness, they [SAS team leader Bill Fraser and a small group of men] reached the airfield perimeter and slipped through the fence, carefully stepping over some tripwire booby traps; over the next thirty minutes they planted thirty-seven bombs, with staggered timers to ensure that all exploded at roughly the same moment…. The first bomb went off at forty-two minutes past midnight, followed by three more in quick succession as the attackers scrambled off the airfield…. The next morning…Fraser was summoned to report to the brigadier. ‘Sorry, Sir, I had to leave two aircraft on the ground as I ran out of explosives, but we destroyed thirty-seven.”
This is but one of dozens of episodes vividly rendered by Ben Macintyre in his latest book, which as its long subtitle declares, chronicles the history of the SAS, the unit that “sabotaged the Nazis and changed the nature of war.” This is no small claim, and Macintyre buttresses it with details drawn from the voluminous SAS regimental archives. He recounts the genesis of the unit, then moves on to its first (and often unsuccessful) baby steps in the African campaign, then on to later developments in the European theater, primarily Italy and Germany.
In his preface, Macintyre outlines his stance on the SAS:
“While many members of the wartime SAS exhibited extraordinary qualities, they were also human: flawed, occasionally cruel, and capable of making spectacular mistakes. The SAS has become a legend, but the true story contains darkness as well as light, tragedy and evil alongside heroism; it is a tale of unparalleled bravery and ingenuity, interspersed with moments of rank incompetence, raw brutality and touching human frailty.”
He also notes that while the history of the SAS is a “rattling adventure story,” he sought to reveal the “psychology of secret, unconventional warfare,” and the “reactions of ordinary people in extraordinary wartime circumstances.” Above all, he notes, “This is a book about the meaning of courage.”
Thus, Rogue Heroes focuses on individuals as well as attacks and campaigns. The men of SAS were a colorful lot, and Macintyre demonstrates a flair for the quick character study. (This I much appreciated, as it helped me remember who was who in the extensive cast of SAS figures.)
First and foremost was Lieutenant David Stirling, the founder of the SAS, an unfailingly polite but unconventional man. Stirling, scion of a famous Scottish family with deep connections in both the aristocracy and the upper echelons of the military, was initially regarded as “impertinent, incompetent, and profoundly irritating” by both his fellow officers and his superiors, yet he was endowed at the same time with phenomenal powers of concentration and great ingenuity.
While recovering in a hospital from his disastrous first parachute jump, Stirling came up with a vision that he then refined and zealously promoted: a unique fighting force with unprecedented independence and special skills, one made up of “fighters who were exceptionally brave but just short of irresponsible; disciplined but independent-minded; uncomplaining, unconventional and, when necessary, merciless.” Such men are not easily controlled, but then Stirling, whose contradictory traits rivalled those of his ideal soldiers, proved an inspired leader.
Macintyre is in his element as he gives thumbnail sketches of Stirling’s SAS recruits. Aside from Stirling, perhaps the most pivotal man was Paddy Mayne, a massive Irishman who had played for Ireland’s national rugby team. When sober, he seemed subdued and thoughtful, but Paddy was transformed by drink into a raging bull. Mayne led some of the most successful SAS attacks, but his actions in battle sometimes demonstrated almost suicidal bravery and at other times cold-blooded murder. Indeed, the SAS had more than its fair share of stone-cold killers, and the author does not romanticize or gloss over some of the more sordid and violent chapters in the unit’s history.
But the dark characters in this book are leavened by lighter ones, such as Captain Bob Walker-Brown, “who had joined the SAS after successfully tunnelling out of an Italian POW camp, crawling to liberty through the main sewer and then walking to Allied lines. He had an enormous moustache, a bluff sense of humour, an upper-class accent so fruity that the men barely understood his commands, and a habit of saying ‘what, what’ after every sentence, thus earning himself the nickname, ‘Captain What What.’”
Another was the first chaplain to the SAS, the Rev. Fraser McLuskey, “the parachute padre” who was found lying unconscious in a tree after his maiden jump. He was “a cheerful, self-mocking Scot with a wide, open face and an unshakeable, deeply examined faith,” and he tirelessly looked after the welfare of the men, helping treat the wounded, offering tea, cigarettes, paperback thrillers, or simply listening unjudgementally. McLuskey, who decided not to carry a gun, mused, “I think the men were glad to see the padre as a kind of symbol of the will of God for peace for all men.” The author, however, notes that “A man who fights with a gun can be brave, but a man who opts to take part in a shooting war without one may be braver still.”
Just as diverse as the soldiers were the many campaigns they engaged in. Essentially, each chapter of the book is a concise narrative of a major operation undertaken by the SAS. As these were generally carried out by small groups, there are brief synopses of the key figures involved, followed by a dramatic recounting of the action. Although this renders the structure of the book episodic, it is engrossing nontheless, particularly as the accounts are laced with flashes of humor and genuine drama. In fact, I found myself wondering how many of these exploits had already been mined (or will be mined) by Hollywood scripwriters.
Some operations were spectacular successes, while others were catastrophes. Macintyre, to his credit, cites the role that luck and German/Italian failings played in some of the successes, while he is equally objective in acknowledging the flaws leading to the failures. As promised, he cleaves to his goal of telling the unvarnished truth.
Macintyre characterizes the early fighting in Africa as a “gentleman’s war,” but this gave way to more savage and chaotic conditions when SAS operations shifted to Europe in the late stages of the war. The very success of the SAS tactics, which inflicted heavy losses upon and demoralized the Germans, led Hitler to issue his infamous “Commando Order,” which stipulated that any captured enemy soldiers found operating behind German lines would immediately be shot. Aside from fighting with what amounted to a death sentence if captured, the SAS was now fighting alongside various European partisan forces, who were a mixed bag, often poorly trained and equipped, prone to endless infighting and, on more than one occasion, betrayed by spies and informants.
As Allied forces drove the Germans into their homeland, “the tide of war turned in a welter of recriminations and blood-letting,” and the SAS, who had in the past laid ambushes for the enemy, now found themselves being ambushed, sometimes by civilians. One of the final scenes in the SAS’s European war took place when an SAS team on a reconnaissance foray became the first Allied soldiers to enter the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. In one of the most sobering chapters of the book, Macintyre describes the horrifying conditions the SAS men witnessed. One soldier wrote starkly, “This day at Belsen was the most horrible of my life.”
I have read most of Ben Macintyre’s work and enjoyed virtually all of it, yet this book, with its great sweep taking in the gamut/gauntlet of the SAS soldiers’ experience, is to my mind his most ambitious yet. He doesn’t claim to have penned the full and definitive history of the SAS during WWII, but I believe he made good on his promise to disclose “darkness as well as light, tragedy and evil alongside heroism.”
Note: I received an advanced reader’s copy of this book through the GoodReads “First Read” giveaway program. While I was told that writing a review was optional, I am happy to share my honest opinion on this latest work by one of my favorite nonfiction authors.
June 27, 2016
I love Ben Macintyre - I think I have four or five of his books on my shelf, and I love the way he blends personal details with gripping narrative non-fiction. I think he's one of the best in the business.
Which is why it pains me to say this is not his best work. All the hallmarks are there, but there's just something missing. I think it's due to profiling an organization as opposed to specific individuals - some flamboyant characters rise out of the soup of tactics and division names, but not enough to craft a really compelling narrative. Still, mediocre Macintyre is better than most.
Which is why it pains me to say this is not his best work. All the hallmarks are there, but there's just something missing. I think it's due to profiling an organization as opposed to specific individuals - some flamboyant characters rise out of the soup of tactics and division names, but not enough to craft a really compelling narrative. Still, mediocre Macintyre is better than most.
April 1, 2023
There is a saying that is attributed to both Winston Churchill and George Orwell...
The quote is a good fit for the SAS Regiment whose actions in WW2 under the leadership of David Stirling and others forever changed the nature of war.
Rogue Heroes manages to do something that is rarely done. Gives an honest account of the Regiment that neither glorifies or embellishes their actions. It provides an honest account of flawed men who did great things.
One Small Correction
Erwin Rommel is often portrayed as the "good nazi". A soldier who fought war with honour. This is a myth. Following the Afrika Korps were SS Death Squads that rounded up and murdered those deemed by the nazis to be undesirable. It is ridiculous to suggest he did not know or participate in these actions.
"We sleep soundly in our beds at night because rough men stand ready to visit violence on those who would do us harm."
The quote is a good fit for the SAS Regiment whose actions in WW2 under the leadership of David Stirling and others forever changed the nature of war.
Rogue Heroes manages to do something that is rarely done. Gives an honest account of the Regiment that neither glorifies or embellishes their actions. It provides an honest account of flawed men who did great things.
One Small Correction
Erwin Rommel is often portrayed as the "good nazi". A soldier who fought war with honour. This is a myth. Following the Afrika Korps were SS Death Squads that rounded up and murdered those deemed by the nazis to be undesirable. It is ridiculous to suggest he did not know or participate in these actions.
September 12, 2017
A fantasticly well researched and written book.
I can't stand books that over dramatise events and embelish them to get more drama out of them. This didn't need embelishing, the writer kept the balance throughout. Astonishing tales of suicidal heroism and extremely moving tragedy on a regular basis make this book a must read.
It really makes you appreciate the idea that was the creation of the SAS, and how change can change the world for the better. A lone unit deployed behind enemy lines, to cause absolute havoc and destroy the enemies moral.
If these brave men didn't exist, I think the world would be a different place today.
I can't stand books that over dramatise events and embelish them to get more drama out of them. This didn't need embelishing, the writer kept the balance throughout. Astonishing tales of suicidal heroism and extremely moving tragedy on a regular basis make this book a must read.
It really makes you appreciate the idea that was the creation of the SAS, and how change can change the world for the better. A lone unit deployed behind enemy lines, to cause absolute havoc and destroy the enemies moral.
If these brave men didn't exist, I think the world would be a different place today.
February 27, 2019
I liked this, so three stars. I liked the history of this particular time frame. It really is interesting how things all played out and fell into place. They were tenacious even when things didn't work. I enjoyed that part of it...the indomitable spirit. So now with that being said, this was a little dry especially the beginning. But once I fell into its rhythm, it worked for me.
November 9, 2025
I’ve found Ben Macintyre to be an excellent and entertaining author of nonfiction. In Rogue Heroes, he writes about the development in WWII of Britain’s Special Air Services (SAS), small groups of highly trained individuals to be focused on specific targets. This would serve as a model for similar groups, like the US Navy Seals.
The bulk of Rogue Heroes centers on the conception and building of the SAS by David Stirling, a creative British officer who would lead the group in North Africa in trying to weaken the onslaught of Rommel’s forceful Africa Korps as it advanced on Egypt. After the end of the North African operations, Macintyre follows the SAS as they join the Allied forces in Sicily, Italy, France and Germany. As this occurs, the more civilized “rules of combat” fall away, and the fighting becomes more brutal when Germany is in retreat.
As I read Rogue Heroes, the operations in North Africa reminded me of a 1960’s television series The Rat Patrol. Looking it up, I learned it indeed was based on David Stirling’s SAS, but modified to be an American led group that never existed, leading the BBC to cancel its broadcast after six episodes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rat...
Overall, I enjoyed Rogue Heroes, but found it a little less compelling than his books The Spy and the Traitor or Prisoners of the Castle. 3.5 stars, rounded up.
The bulk of Rogue Heroes centers on the conception and building of the SAS by David Stirling, a creative British officer who would lead the group in North Africa in trying to weaken the onslaught of Rommel’s forceful Africa Korps as it advanced on Egypt. After the end of the North African operations, Macintyre follows the SAS as they join the Allied forces in Sicily, Italy, France and Germany. As this occurs, the more civilized “rules of combat” fall away, and the fighting becomes more brutal when Germany is in retreat.
As I read Rogue Heroes, the operations in North Africa reminded me of a 1960’s television series The Rat Patrol. Looking it up, I learned it indeed was based on David Stirling’s SAS, but modified to be an American led group that never existed, leading the BBC to cancel its broadcast after six episodes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rat...
Overall, I enjoyed Rogue Heroes, but found it a little less compelling than his books The Spy and the Traitor or Prisoners of the Castle. 3.5 stars, rounded up.
November 4, 2021
Wonderful learning about the SAS l, it’s members, its place in history, and its effect on worldwide armed special forces,. Quietly brave and efficient in all they accomplished, I hope this generation will follow their example. Narrator was terrific.
August 3, 2018
A nice account of the early years of the SAS in World War II with a distinctly British sense of humor that made reading it a joy. Most of the time is spent on defining the characters during the North African desert campaign and then following them through the (spoiler alert) liberation of Europe. I'm sure someone could have written a 700 page version of this history but I appreciated the fast pace, emphasis on personalities over battle specifics, and the in-depth research done by the author to pull out lots of interesting trivia and anecdotes. The only improvement I would have made is to just make the book about the desert since it made for the most interesting material. But the subsequent sections, especially the ones where they sneak into occupied cities in regular cars was highly enjoyable. I strongly recommend this for military history fans.
October 24, 2016
I won an ARC of this book in a goodreads drawing.
A wonderful history of the origins of the SAS, which reads a lot like an Alistair MacLean novel.
A wonderful history of the origins of the SAS, which reads a lot like an Alistair MacLean novel.
September 20, 2019
This is a frank and comprehensive account of the SAS during WWII presenting their successes and failures, their brilliance and flaws. They were clearly a remarkable group of men at a remarkable time.
January 11, 2025
After having a spate of unenjoyable books this was particularly rewarding to read. Although non-fiction, the pacing and storytelling is so well done it doesn’t feel like a dusty stale history of yet another WW2 book. The actions of the SAS in part help this matter as their exploits are unbelievable (storming around playing loud music from a gramophone whilst hiding from the SS for instance). But this is also aided by the superb structure of Macintyre where the events are placed in real time and laid out well. There are moments of genuine disbelief and glee intermingled with poignant and tragic stories of lives lost and of course the sites of the concentration camps which are well placed to remind the reader this is not simply an episode of James Bond but instead lives were seriously at risk in these exploits.
I will also say that I’m not a massive fan of war stories and this kind of gung ho vibes but there’s something about this book that makes it appealing for anyone who enjoys a good tale.
Also velvet onesie suits were apparently a thing and Churchill walked around in them?! Lmao
I will also say that I’m not a massive fan of war stories and this kind of gung ho vibes but there’s something about this book that makes it appealing for anyone who enjoys a good tale.
Also velvet onesie suits were apparently a thing and Churchill walked around in them?! Lmao
June 2, 2023
Rogue Heroes is a treat not only to World War II history buffs, but fans of phenomenal history in general in capturing the adventurous and daring missions of the early Special Air Service. Author Ben Macintrye writes with such flair and style about a group of young misfit commandos that feel like fictional accounts of their colorful real-life selfs going on such bold missions across North Africa, Italy, France, and Germany. The SAS began in inception with David Stirling and Jock Lewes; two rather unconventional soldiers who led extraordinary missions behind enemy lines sabotaging German and Italian aircraft and supplies across the North African coast. Macintrye is candid about the successes and failures of this new unit, who was often scoffed at and misunderstood given the traditional warfare practices of generals and other military leaders more accustomed to fighting tactics associated with World War I battlefields. This book is a great example of the truth being stranger than fiction. How bold new ideas were needed in fighting that forever changed the face of warfare moving forward. Each member of the SAS is written with such care and precision that you really feel the ostentatious personalities that made up such a unit. Stirling and Paddy Mayne in particular are the standouts. One great example is a mission where Randolph Churchill (son of Winston Churchill) accompanied the unit on a mission in North Africa, fooling German and Italian troops with such bold moves as walking right into enemy camps and speaking to them as if they were German officers checking on the security around camps and belittling enemy troops on their poor performances. Moments like these bring forth laughter among the more serious battles, particularly later in the book when the Germans became more desperate as Allied troops crossed into Germany from France. Nevertheless this is an outstanding book full of courage, heart, and the brilliance of each fighting man in this elite unit.
December 14, 2016
I read this book while Aleppo was under siege and finally fell on 13 December 2016. With thousands and thousands of innocents slaughtered in the ruins of their destroyed homes while the whole world was watching, I found it hard to accept that the author doesn't tackle a single one of the many pressing questions concerning the "guerilla tactics" the SAS so famously adopted for warefare.
MacIntyre seems to have stuck completely to the testimony of the SAS and other military. This makes for a quite repetitive read, with one ambush followed by another secret attack again and again. The troubled personalities of some of his protagonists - finding out more about which has drawn me to this book in the first place - remain relatively obscure. MacIntyre didn't dare or have the time to put his heroes into historical perspective (the changes in warefare the SAS initiated _and_ experienced likewise seem to just "happen"), to explain their actions by relating them to a certain Zeitgeist (we don't learn about that either) or a certain model of manhood or the changing images of the soldier.
For me, this was hagiography for the SAS. Some of the men delivered typically British puns and showed a sense of humour that made me laugh out loud, so I can somehow understand that one can get carried away a little. But I would recommend the book only to militaria-enthusiasts.
MacIntyre seems to have stuck completely to the testimony of the SAS and other military. This makes for a quite repetitive read, with one ambush followed by another secret attack again and again. The troubled personalities of some of his protagonists - finding out more about which has drawn me to this book in the first place - remain relatively obscure. MacIntyre didn't dare or have the time to put his heroes into historical perspective (the changes in warefare the SAS initiated _and_ experienced likewise seem to just "happen"), to explain their actions by relating them to a certain Zeitgeist (we don't learn about that either) or a certain model of manhood or the changing images of the soldier.
For me, this was hagiography for the SAS. Some of the men delivered typically British puns and showed a sense of humour that made me laugh out loud, so I can somehow understand that one can get carried away a little. But I would recommend the book only to militaria-enthusiasts.
September 15, 2023
What an emotional ending for a book, it truly brought tears to my eyes!
The names of David Stirling, Paddy Mayne and Jock Lewis will forever live as the heroic founders and leaders of the SAS.
When I watched the BBC TV series Rogue Heroes I thought that there was probably a lot of fictionalised accounts. It turns out reality is even crazier then the TV show.
All of the adventures and covert operations of the SAS in North Africa are absolutely unbelievable. A bunch of young crazy soldiers went around the desert attacking German and Italian bases, blowing up planes and causing chaos. The level of courage of these men is close to insanity.
The following operations in Italy, France and Germany a lot more dirty and dark with a lot more violence on both sides.
Ben Macintyre is the master of popular history books, they are almost like novels. He is now my favourite history author.
The names of David Stirling, Paddy Mayne and Jock Lewis will forever live as the heroic founders and leaders of the SAS.
When I watched the BBC TV series Rogue Heroes I thought that there was probably a lot of fictionalised accounts. It turns out reality is even crazier then the TV show.
All of the adventures and covert operations of the SAS in North Africa are absolutely unbelievable. A bunch of young crazy soldiers went around the desert attacking German and Italian bases, blowing up planes and causing chaos. The level of courage of these men is close to insanity.
The following operations in Italy, France and Germany a lot more dirty and dark with a lot more violence on both sides.
Ben Macintyre is the master of popular history books, they are almost like novels. He is now my favourite history author.
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