Rogue Heroes (Five Stars)

This book looks at the Special Air Service, a unit organized in North Africa during WWII for the purpose of conducting sustained raids deep behind enemy lines and collecting intelligence. From its humble beginnings under David Sterling to its use in France to slow down German reinforcements attempting to reach the Normandy bridgehead, the SAS story is told by MacIntyre in the only way practical: through the stories of the men who were its members. From David Sterling, with the contradictions of his character to Paddy Mayne, a man bedeviled by internal demons and driven to drink, MacIntyre tells the story of men who were often flawed but committed, who were tough but had weaknesses, and who were pioneers in a new field of military endeavor which required new thinking and new tactics. Sometimes, the SAS was treated as a commando unit or some special elite unit and given battlefield roles for which they were unsuited (such as at Termoli) and suffered casualties accordingly. But when given missions for which they had experience and had planned for they could be devastating. They lived up to their motto "Who Dares, Wins."