Secret Armies

Trained to fight in any climate or terrain.

The best of the best.

Special forces are in the vanguard of modern warfare.

The names of their battlegrounds are familiar.

Vietnam. Mogadishu. Kabul. The Iranian Embassy. Banjul. The Falklands. Grenada.

Surgical strike or counter-terrorist operation, training guerrillas or quashing coups, time has proven that even the smallest number of these highly-trained operatives can achieve what an army cannot.

But not every mission has been successful, and nor has support for them been constant.

These deadly armies lie hidden from public scrutiny.

Who recruits and trains these secret soldiers?

How effective are they?

…and who controls them?

In this chilling analysis James Adams unveils the secret world of the SAS, Delta Force and Spetsnaz.

Adams also reveals the workings of West Germany’s GSG 9, France’s GIGN, Egypt’s Force 777 and Israel’s Unit 269.

Secret Armies is a sobering yet gripping study of special forces and their military and politica role, in an ever-changing world.

Praise for Secret Armies

‘Blends solid research, military technology, lucid explanation and clear narrative with a leavening of marvellous anecdotes, some zany, others tragic’ – Frederick Forsyth

‘Providing new material on the structure, training and combat experience of Spetzsnaz, the Soviet's secret army.’ – Publishers Weekly

Praise for James Adams

‘uncovers a close, multi-faceted strategic relationship that has been consciously nurtured in secret.’ – Washington Report

James Adams was born in Newcastle, England in 1951. He was trained as a journalist on the Evening Chronicle, Newcastle, and after a period working in Africa and the United States became chief reporter and then news editor on 8 Days, a magazine specializing in the Middle East. He went on to become Managing Editor of the Sunday Times in London. Adams is an expert on warfare and intelligence and has had positions at the White House and the National Security Agency. He is married to the artist Patricia Frischer with whom he wrote the successful textbook, The Artist in the Marketplace.