The Elite: Story of the Rhodesian Special Air Service

Cole, Barbara

ISBN 10: 0620074213 / ISBN 13: 9780620074216

Published by Three Knights Publishing, South Africa, 1985

About this Item

Faint foxing to text block edges onl. yMaps, illustrations, colour and B&W photographs. 25 x 18 cm. 449 pp. Scarce.

Seller Inventory # 004689

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Elite: Story of the Rhodesian Special Air Service
• Publisher: Three Knights Publishing, South Africa
• Publication Date: 1985
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0620074213
• ISBN 13: 9780620074216
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 3rd Edition
• Condition: Near Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)

About this title

Synopsis

The Rhodesian Special Air Service, one of the most formidable fighting forces in the world, operated almost exclusively across borders during the long bitter bush war, undertaking deep-penetration missions against insurgents being harbored inside neighboring Mozambique and Zambia. There were missions into Botswana too, and at one stage, the SAS was operating without benefit of passport in all three neighboring territories at the same time. Long before the war escalated and the whole region became their battlefield, clandestine missions across the border were undertaken by SAS operators. Later, when the situation intensified, they were responsible for some of the most audacious and highly sensitive missions of the war.The writer takes the reader from the early days on the Western Desert to the formation of the Rhodesian SAS for service in Malaya, then back to Africa where the action spans the days of the Federation, the UDI era and finally the decolonization of Rhodesia by the British in 1980. This is the first book to detail the secret exploits of this elite regiment and it has been based on rare firsthand interviews with operators themselves. Some of their exploits may seem far-fetched, even impossible, but then, truth is often stranger than fiction. It is a history of high adventure and daring, courage and humanism, be it driving through the streets of a neighboring capital, knocking out trains, bridges and installations or swooping out of the morning skies then, with the ability to hit hard and fast, attacking and taking their leave, the devastation complete, the mission accomplished.This edition, which combines the original and the subsequent pictorial editions-originally published in the mid-1980s and long since out of print-is presented in a modern, attractive, upgraded format.