Product Description: The Navy SEALs may be the most talked about special operations unit of the military but the U.S. Army Green Berets are no less masterful at their job. Readers explore the lesser-known details about what makes a Green Beret tick, including the rigorous admissions requirements and top-secret missions...read more

Product Description: Narrates key events in recent history of special forces operations around the globe, from the Gulf War through Iraq.

A hard-hitting history of special-forces operations over the past fifty years in the United States, United Kingdom, and Israel. After eight challenging years in Afghanistan, the new U.S. strategy, aimed at winning hearts and minds rather than search-and-destroy, refocuses the conflict on Special Forces: unorthodox soldiers who work outside of traditional military forces to combine secret military operations with nation building. Tony Geraghty, an expert author in this field for almost thirty years, unveils the extraordinary evolution of this refined style of war-making from its roots in anti-guerrilla warfare in Ireland and Palestine, by way of the creation of the C.I.A., the S.A.S., the Green Berets, and America Office of Strategic Services (O.S.S.), and many others. Israel's Special Forces, including Mossad, are an organic part of the same coherent history, and their story is narrated here for the first time. This history is more than a tale of derring-do, although James Bond-like characters stalk every page. it is a sweeping examination of Black Ops at a time when they represent the future of an open-ended global war against terrorism.

Product Description: James D. Kiras shows how a number of different special operations, in conjunction with more conventional military actions, achieve and sustain strategic effect(s) over time. In particular, he argues that the root of effective special operations lies in understanding the relationship existing between moral and material attrition at the strategic level...read more

An illustrated tour of history's most highly trained military units, from the ancient Spartans to modern-day U.S. Navy SEALs covers in extensive visual detail the equipment and techniques used today, sharing in-depth accounts of the background, organization, operations, intelligence-gathering methods, vehicles, and special gear for each. Reprint.

Tracing the history of special operations, from ancient times to the present day, offering a look at the ways in which Special Forces and other commandos are transforming the U.S. military and the future face of warfare.