'The most comprehensive and enlightening version of these seminal events
yet.'
Sir Ranulph Fiennes
Britain's elite Special Air Service Regiment, the SAS, is one of the
most revered - and feared - special-ops units in the world. Its
high-profile operations include the spectacular storming of the Iranian
Embassy in London on 5 May 1980 and the hunt for Osama bin Laden in
southern Afghanistan following 9/11. The regiment has become a byword
for the highest possible standards in both conventional and unorthodox
methods of warfare.
But where did it all begin? In this compelling book, Tim Jones tackles
this fascinating question from a fresh perspective. It is commonly held
that the regiment was the brainchild of just one man, David Stirling.
While not dismissing Stirling's considerable contribution to the
regiment's genesis, Jones's insightful investigation identifies all of
the major factors that played a part in shaping the SAS, including the
role of such notables as Dudley Clarke, Archibald Wavell and Claude
Auchinleck, among others.
Drawing extensively on primary sources, as well as reassessing the more
recent regimental histories and memoirs, SAS Zero Hour is an
illuminating and provocative account of how this renowned regiment came
into being.