IN THE COMBAT ZONE - Special Forces since 1945 by Neillands, Robin

New York Univ. press, 1998, US first edition, hard bound in dust jacket, VG/VG condition, light bump on one corner, 6 x 9, 350 pages, illus, bibliog., index.------------------------------------------------------------The author has interviewed many ex-Special Forces soldiers around the world, and relates the evolution of small special unit warfare since 1945. British, American, Israeli, French, Argentinean and others. All campaigns and Wars since 1945 to the Gulf are covered, and an appendices lists the current Special Forces of all the world's armies. The Green Berets. The Navy SEALs. The secret Delta Force. The British SAS. The Israeli Mossad. Almost every country has a special force unit in its military. But what do they do, whom do they recruit, and how do they train?--------------------------------------------------------------Robin Neillands, renowned military historian and himself a former Royal Marine Commando, here tells the story of special forces since the end of World War II, where possible in the words of the soldiers themselves. He describes the operational successes and failures, advances in military technology crucial to special force effectiveness, and the achievements, challenges, and exploits of a wide range of special force units.From the intense cold of the Korean winter, the mountains of Cyprus, and the Libyan night, to the jungle heat of Vietnam and the green hills of Northern Ireland, In the Combat Zone provides a compelling and revealing portrait of these highly trained troops, without the by-now banal glorification so characteristic of such discussions. As Neillands writes, "A great many special force soldiers have helped me with this book, on the understanding that I told it straight and did not use their accounts to produce yet another 'gung-ho heroes' epic."In a world plagued by terrorism and small wars, interest in special forces has never been higher and In the Combat Zone could not be more timely.