For 5 days in May 1980, thousands watched around the world as the shadowy figures of the SAS performed a daring and dramatic raid on the Iranian Embassy in London, catapulting a little-known specialist unit into the full glare of the world's media. Hailed by Margaret Thatcher as "a brilliant operation, carried out with courage and confidence," the raid was a huge success for the SAS, who managed to rescue nineteen hostages with near-perfect military execution, although two hostages were killed by terrorists. Despite the acclaim and media attention, details of the siege are still largely unknown and those at the heart of the story, the identities of the SAS troopers themselves, remain a closely guarded secret.

This book takes a concise and in-depth look at the dramatic events of the Iranian Embassy Siege, revealing the political background behind it and carefully analyzing the controversial decision by the Prime Minister and Home Secretary to sign over control of the streets of London to the military. Unique bird's eye view artwork illustrates the moment the walls were breached and show how the strict planning of the operation was critical to its success. With input from those involved in the mission, and discussion on the effective training regimes of the SAS, the author strips away some of the mystery behind the best counter-terrorism unit in the world and their most famous raid....

Immortalized in literature through such characters as C. S. Forester's 'Horatio Hornblower' and Patrick O'Brian's 'Jack Aubrey', the officers and midshipmen of the Royal Navy during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars ran the ships that defended Great Britain against the threat of French invasion. This period saw the Royal Navy achieve its most momentous victories at the Nile, Copenhagen and Trafalgar, victories that laid the basis for a period of British naval and imperial supremacy that would last a century.

The men who commanded these ships went through a long apprenticeship, often going to sea at the age of 12 or younger. They could serve for up to 60 years, progressing through the ranks in a service that rewarded success in battle and merit to a much larger extent than the contemporary British Army.

This title, the companion volume to Warrior 100: Nelson's Sailors, describes the harsh realities of life in the Georgian Royal Navy for all ranks of officer from the lowest midshipman to the most senior admiral and covers the exploits of men such as Horatio Nelson and Thomas Cochrane who provided the basis for the fictional figures that remain so popular to this day....

During the 19th Century Britain entered into three brutal wars with Afghanistan, each one an imperial struggle for power that saw the British forces trying, and failing, to gain control of an inhospitable and impenetrable region. The first two wars (1839 - 42, 1878 - 81) were attempts to expunge pro-Russian sympathies, and thehe third, in 1919, a result of an Afghan-declared holy war against British India. In the last of the three, over 100,000 Afghans answered the call for a holy war, generating a military force that would prove too great for the British Imperial army. Each of the three wars were plagued with military disasters, lengthy sieges and costly engagements for the British, and history has proved the Afghans a formidable foe and Afghanistan an unconquerable territory. This book reveals the history of these three Anglo-Afghan wars, the imperial power struggles that led to conflict and the torturous experiences of the men on the ground as they struggled against the inhospitable Afghan terrain and an unrelenting enemy. The book concludes with a brief overview of the motives for today's conflict and draws the historical parallels between the past and present....