sections:
This is a tale of extraordinary comradeship and brotherhood; of honour and betrayal; of horrific medieval bloodletting amidst an ultra-high-tech war; of fanatical hatred, suicide attacks and a terrible collective death wish; of selfless heroism and the bitter tragedy of friendly-fire; of dark humour among the fear and the bloodshed; of close quarter battle at its most deadly; and of the kill-or-be-killed hunt for the world’s most wanted killers.
This book tells the tale of a band of British-American special forces soldiers united in adversity - and of the camaraderie and sacrifices made by these men when put in harms way. This is the untold story of the battles fought by these men in the global war against terror. It focuses down onto the months immediately following the 9/11 terrorist strikes, and the hunt for the perpetrators of those attacks in Afghanistan. As the West faced up to a de factor Third World War, old alliances and comradeships proved the strongest: a handful of Britain and America’s finest troops – aided by their Aussie and Kiwi counterparts – took the war to the enemy heartland. In the Afghan wild lands, British and American special forces soldiers ate, slept, fought and died alongside each other – working in close-knit units the likes of which have rarely been seen since the Second World War.
This is the story of the trials and exploits, the victories and defeats, of one of those units. This book takes us from the first ever assault against a terrorist ship carrying weapons of mass destruction to attack London, to the epic siege of the terrorist-held Qala-I-Janghi fort in Afghanistan. In the interim, our half-a-dozen soldier-characters penetrate the badlands of Waziristan in the hunt for Osama Bin Laden and his henchman, Mullah Omer.
They deliver suitcases stuffed with millions of dollars in cash to ‘friendly’ Afghan warlords, and get accused of stealing half the money in the process. They trek into the towering heights of the uncharted Naka Valley, where allied intelligence has identified the mother of all terrorist training camps – only to have to call off the biggest US air strike of the war. They fight in the labrynthine tunnels running beneath the Afghan mountains; they risk all to rescue their fellow soldiers from a downed aircraft stranded on a snow-blasted mountain peak.
In this book, we are gifted with an intimate, deeply personal portrait of these men at war. We learn to love, admire, cherish - and at times detest – them, as they operate against a suicidal enemy in one of the harshest terrains on earth. Quickly these men realise that all rules have been torn up in this theatre of war: all concepts of the laws of combat, of honour and decency in battle, have been abandoned. Their ultimate challenge is to remain true to their warrior path, and not allow themselves to sink to the same level of brutality and evil as their enemies.
book reviews
- Warships
"...a classic of SF literature." - News of the World
"This is the most dramatic story of a secret wartime mission you will ever read ... An explosive new book by Damien Lewis reveals how eight heroes of the Special Boat Service were sent where even the SAS could not go - into the hell of a mountain fort teeming with 600 Al Qaeda suicide terrorists." - Zoo Magazine
"The full story of the Afghan mission is told in Damien Lewis's Bloody Heroes. The author has been given unprecedented access to the men of the SBS ... as Britain's best tackle jungle killers, Taliban fighters and a ship suspected of carrying a chemical bomb towards London." - Eye Spy magazine
"A gripping account that follows the exploits of British and American special forces involved in a secret, deadly dual in the rugged terrain of Afghanistan." - Compass Magazine
"Bloody Heroes, his newest book, tells the true story of the SBS in action in Afghanistan, the details of which are only now being revealed ... It is a must read for all Damien Lewis fans." - Amazon Reader's review
"One of the best, if not THE best, books ever written about Special Forces operations ... Leaves the reader in awe of these special individuals. The cast of characters includes SAS, SBS, Delta, SEALs, CIA and SOF. We all owe these guys a debt of honour, truly."
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