In 1941, maverick officer David Stirling adventurer, gambler, rake created the Special Air Service. The soldiers came from all walks of life: miners, desert explorers, Guardsmen, bored clerks in the pay corps. All felt frustrated by the conventional army and were determined to make their mark on the war. Together they created a tradition that would survive the capture of their leader, the death of so many of their comrades and even the disbanding of the SAS after the end of the war.

With the co-operation of the regimental association, Gavin Mortimer interviewed nearly sixty veterans, including many of the desert 'Originals', many of whom had never before revealed their role. They spoke openly, with honesty and humour, about life in the SAS; the gruelling training that broke all but the toughest; the thrill of raiding desert airfields; the danger of parachuting into occupied France; and the fear of being caught by the Germans, knowing that Hitler had ordered the 'liquidation' of captured SAS soldiers.

This is the SAS at war, in their own words.

Gavin Mortimer has written more than thirty non-fiction books and his particular area of expertise are the Allied special forces of WW2. He has interviewed more than 150 wartime veterans of the SAS, SBS, LRDG and other famous units. His 2022 biography of SAS founder David Stirling, The Phoney Major, was critically acclaimed.