Rogue Heroes

The History of the SAS, Britain's Secret Special Forces Unit That Sabotaged the Nazis and Changed the Nature of War

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The incredible untold story of World War II’s greatest secret fighting force, as told by the modern master of wartime intrigue—now an original series on MGM+!

“Reads like a mashup of The Dirty Dozen and The Great Escape, with a sprinkling of Ocean’s 11 thrown in for good measure.”—Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

ONE OF NPR’S BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR • “Rogue Heroes is a ripping good read.”—Washington Post (10 Best Books of the Year)

Britain’s Special Air Service—or SAS—was the brainchild of David Stirling, a young aristocrat whose aimlessness belied a remarkable strategic mind. Where most of his colleagues looked at a World War II battlefield map and saw a protracted struggle, Stirling saw an opportunity: given a small number of elite men, he could parachute behind Nazi lines and sabotage their airplanes and supplies. Defying his superiors’ conventional wisdom, Stirling assembled a revolutionary fighting force that would upend not just the balance of the war, but the nature of combat itself.

Bringing his keen eye for detail to a riveting wartime narrative, Ben Macintyre uses his unprecedented access to the SAS archives to shine a light on a legendary unit long shrouded in secrecy.

Inventing behind the lives warfare

Ben MacIntyre reports and tells riveting stories about subjects that are widely know about but not necessarily deeply known or understood. And his story-telling and narrative are supported with details of people and actions that legitimize the wildest of tales. The development and growth of the SAS was so compelling in the early years, I was almost sorry to see the war in African come to an end.

Good read. Needs more detail/relevance.

I wasn’t looking for SAS but this book was there and audible. If you are looking for a specific SAS or North Africa campaign you should read/listen to this book. If you are looking for general WW2… Martin Middlebrook does a good job in the European air campaign. Ian Toll does a fantastic job in the pacific theatre. Dan Carlin is a good option for a WW2 podcast. For me this book was too general and needed more research and more detail/relevance. An SAS raid destroying 20-30 planes needs to be more statistical - how many planes were in NA? The SAS team was crazy = yes. But I do not believe the author identified that from day 1 these men were considered expendable. So would you not be crazy to sign up?

Just can’t give if the typical rubber stamp. Good - Yes. Not great.

Rogue heroes

This story is very informative as to how the SAS became to be. I would recommend it to any history buff. It was interesting learning how the SAS came to be and the history of the people who were involved.

funny and very dark

you will find this account both funny and disturbing, graphic to the actions of ww2

An incredible History of Incredible Men

The Author tells his story in a bit of a drone but WHAT a Story! Be warned, He covers the exploits of the SAS brilliantly but also includes the human cost of them and spares no details on a mostly hidden chapter of WWII.
Highly recommend