Author: Steve Heaney, MC
Publisher: Orion
ISBN: 1409148467
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 425
Book Description
'Captures the confusion, black humour, raw courage and sheer exhilaration of combat brilliantly' THE TIMES 'Read this account of his stint with the 26-man strong X Platoon in the sweltering jungle, living on grubs, outnumbered 80 to one, battling heavily armed rebels with bamboo sticks and home-made grenades, and you'll be asking the question... Why wasn't he given TWO MCs?' SUNDAY SPORT 2,000 blood-crazed rebels. 26 elite British soldiers. One man's explosive true story. Airlifted into the heart of the Sierra Leone jungle in the midst of the bloody civil war in 2000, 26 elite operators from the secret British elite unit X Platoon were sent into combat against thousands of Sierra Leonean rebels. Notorious for their brutality, the rebels were manned with captured UN armour, machine-guns and grenade-launchers, while the men of X Platoon were kitted with pitiful supplies of ammunition, malfunctioning rifles, and no body armour, grenades or heavy weapons. Intended to last only 48 hours, the mission mutated into a 16-day siege against the rebels, as X Platoon were denied the back-up and air support they had been promised, and were forced to make their stand alone. The half-starved soldiers, surviving on bush tucker, fought with grenades made from old food-tins and defended themselves with barricades made of sharpened sticks. Sergeant Steve Heaney won the Military Cross for his initiative in taking command after the platoon lost their commanding officer. OPERATION MAYHEM recounts his amazing untold true story, full of the rough-and-ready humour and steely fortitude with which these elite soldiers carried out operations far into hostile terrain.
Scholars of Mayhem
Author: Daniel C. Guiet
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0735225222
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 274
Book Description
"Riveting...A true-life mix of James Bond, Lawrence of Arabia and 'Casablanca.'" -The Wall Street Journal The astonishing untold story of the author's father, the lone American on a four-person team of Allied secret agents dropped into Nazi-occupied France, whose epic feats of irregular warfare proved vital in keeping German tanks away from Normandy after D-Day. When Daniel Guiet was a child and his family moved country, as they frequently did, his father had one possession, a tin bread box, that always made the trip. Daniel was admonished never to touch the box, but one day he couldn't resist. What he found astonished him: a .45 automatic and five full clips; three slim knives; a length of wire with a wooden handle at each end; thin pieces of paper with random numbers on them; several passports with his father's photograph, each bearing a different name; and silk squares imprinted with different countries' flags, bearing messages in unfamiliar alphabets. The messages, he discovered much later, were variations on a theme: I am an American. Take me to the nearest Allied military office. You will be paid. Eventually Jean Claude Guiet revealed to his family that he had been in the CIA, but it was only at the very end of his life that he spoke of the mission during World War II that marked the beginning of his career in clandestine service. It is one of the last great untold stories of the war, and Daniel Guiet and his collaborator, the writer Tim Smith, have spent several years bringing it to life. Jean Claude was an American citizen but a child of France, and fluent in the language; he was also extremely bright. The American military was on the lookout for native French speakers to be seconded to a secret British special operations commando operation, dropping clandestine agents behind German lines in France to coordinate aid to the French Resistance and lead missions wreaking havoc on Germany's military efforts across the entire country. Jean Claude was recruited, and his life was changed forever. Though the human cost was terrible, the mission succeeded beyond the Allies' wildest dreams. Scholars of Mayhem tells the story of Jean Claude and the other three agents in his "circuit," codenamed Salesman, a unit of Britain's Special Operations Executive, the secret service ordered by Churchill to "Set Europe ablaze." Parachuted into France the day after D-Day, the Salesman team organized, armed, and commanded an underground army of 10,000 French Resistance fighters. National pride has kept the story of SOE in France obscure, but of this there is no doubt: While the Resistance had plenty of heart, it was SOE that gave it teeth and claws. Scholars of Mayhem adds brilliantly to that picture, and further underscores what a close-run thing the success of the Allied breakout from the Normandy landings actually was.
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0735225222
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 274
Book Description
"Riveting...A true-life mix of James Bond, Lawrence of Arabia and 'Casablanca.'" -The Wall Street Journal The astonishing untold story of the author's father, the lone American on a four-person team of Allied secret agents dropped into Nazi-occupied France, whose epic feats of irregular warfare proved vital in keeping German tanks away from Normandy after D-Day. When Daniel Guiet was a child and his family moved country, as they frequently did, his father had one possession, a tin bread box, that always made the trip. Daniel was admonished never to touch the box, but one day he couldn't resist. What he found astonished him: a .45 automatic and five full clips; three slim knives; a length of wire with a wooden handle at each end; thin pieces of paper with random numbers on them; several passports with his father's photograph, each bearing a different name; and silk squares imprinted with different countries' flags, bearing messages in unfamiliar alphabets. The messages, he discovered much later, were variations on a theme: I am an American. Take me to the nearest Allied military office. You will be paid. Eventually Jean Claude Guiet revealed to his family that he had been in the CIA, but it was only at the very end of his life that he spoke of the mission during World War II that marked the beginning of his career in clandestine service. It is one of the last great untold stories of the war, and Daniel Guiet and his collaborator, the writer Tim Smith, have spent several years bringing it to life. Jean Claude was an American citizen but a child of France, and fluent in the language; he was also extremely bright. The American military was on the lookout for native French speakers to be seconded to a secret British special operations commando operation, dropping clandestine agents behind German lines in France to coordinate aid to the French Resistance and lead missions wreaking havoc on Germany's military efforts across the entire country. Jean Claude was recruited, and his life was changed forever. Though the human cost was terrible, the mission succeeded beyond the Allies' wildest dreams. Scholars of Mayhem tells the story of Jean Claude and the other three agents in his "circuit," codenamed Salesman, a unit of Britain's Special Operations Executive, the secret service ordered by Churchill to "Set Europe ablaze." Parachuted into France the day after D-Day, the Salesman team organized, armed, and commanded an underground army of 10,000 French Resistance fighters. National pride has kept the story of SOE in France obscure, but of this there is no doubt: While the Resistance had plenty of heart, it was SOE that gave it teeth and claws. Scholars of Mayhem adds brilliantly to that picture, and further underscores what a close-run thing the success of the Allied breakout from the Normandy landings actually was.
X Platoon
Author: Steve Heaney, MC
Publisher: Orion
ISBN: 1409148513
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 441
Book Description
For three decades one of the most secretive units in the British military has been a mystery force known as X Platoon. Officially there was no X Platoon. The forty men in its elite number were specially selected from across the Armed Forces, at which point they simply ceased to exist. X Platoon had no budget, no weaponry, no vehicles and no kit - apart from what its men could beg, borrow or steal from other military units. For the first time a highly decorated veteran of this specialised force - otherwise known as the Pathfinders - reveals its unique story. Steve Heaney became one of the youngest ever to pass Selection, the gruelling trial of elite forces, and was at the cutting edge of X Platoon operations - serving on anti-narcotics operations in the Central American jungles, on missions hunting war criminals in the Balkans, and being sent to spy on and wage war against the Russians. The first non-officer in the unit's history to be award the Military Cross, Steve Heaney reveals the extraordinary work undertaken by this secret band of brothers.
Publisher: Orion
ISBN: 1409148513
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 441
Book Description
For three decades one of the most secretive units in the British military has been a mystery force known as X Platoon. Officially there was no X Platoon. The forty men in its elite number were specially selected from across the Armed Forces, at which point they simply ceased to exist. X Platoon had no budget, no weaponry, no vehicles and no kit - apart from what its men could beg, borrow or steal from other military units. For the first time a highly decorated veteran of this specialised force - otherwise known as the Pathfinders - reveals its unique story. Steve Heaney became one of the youngest ever to pass Selection, the gruelling trial of elite forces, and was at the cutting edge of X Platoon operations - serving on anti-narcotics operations in the Central American jungles, on missions hunting war criminals in the Balkans, and being sent to spy on and wage war against the Russians. The first non-officer in the unit's history to be award the Military Cross, Steve Heaney reveals the extraordinary work undertaken by this secret band of brothers.
Public Spaces, Private Lives
Author: Henry A. Giroux
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 9780742525269
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 228
Book Description
While many of the essays in this book were written before 9/11, they point to a number of important issues such as the commercialization of public life, the stepped up militarization, racial profiling, and the threat to basic civil liberties that have been resurrected since the terrorist attacks. Public Spaces, Private Lives serves to legitimate the claim that there is much in America that has not changed since 9/11. Rather than a dramatic change, what we are witnessing is an intensification and acceleration of the contradictions that threatened American democracy before the tragic events of 9/11. Hence, Public Spaces, Private Lives offers a context for both understanding and critically engaging the combined threats posed by the increase in domestic militarization and a neoliberal ideology that substitutes market values for those democratic values that are crucial to rethinking what a vibrant democracy would look like in the aftermath of September 11th.
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 9780742525269
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 228
Book Description
While many of the essays in this book were written before 9/11, they point to a number of important issues such as the commercialization of public life, the stepped up militarization, racial profiling, and the threat to basic civil liberties that have been resurrected since the terrorist attacks. Public Spaces, Private Lives serves to legitimate the claim that there is much in America that has not changed since 9/11. Rather than a dramatic change, what we are witnessing is an intensification and acceleration of the contradictions that threatened American democracy before the tragic events of 9/11. Hence, Public Spaces, Private Lives offers a context for both understanding and critically engaging the combined threats posed by the increase in domestic militarization and a neoliberal ideology that substitutes market values for those democratic values that are crucial to rethinking what a vibrant democracy would look like in the aftermath of September 11th.
Fight Club
Author: Thomas E. Wartenberg
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136665633
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 187
Book Description
Released in 1999, Fight Club is David Fincher’s popular adaption of Chuck Palahniuk’s cult novel, and one of the most philosophically rich films of recent years. This is the first book to explore the varied philosophical aspects of the film. Beginning with an introduction by the editor that places the film and essays in context, each chapter explores a central theme of Fight Club from a philosophical perspective. Topics discussed include: Fight Club, Plato’s cave and Descartes’ cogito moral disintegration identity, gender and masculinity visuals and narration. Including annotated further reading at the end of each chapter, Fight Club is essential reading for anyone interested in the film, as well as those studying philosophy and film studies.
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136665633
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 187
Book Description
Released in 1999, Fight Club is David Fincher’s popular adaption of Chuck Palahniuk’s cult novel, and one of the most philosophically rich films of recent years. This is the first book to explore the varied philosophical aspects of the film. Beginning with an introduction by the editor that places the film and essays in context, each chapter explores a central theme of Fight Club from a philosophical perspective. Topics discussed include: Fight Club, Plato’s cave and Descartes’ cogito moral disintegration identity, gender and masculinity visuals and narration. Including annotated further reading at the end of each chapter, Fight Club is essential reading for anyone interested in the film, as well as those studying philosophy and film studies.
Mayhem's Warrior
Author: Lindsay Cross
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781548675424
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 288
Book Description
Captain T.K. Reaper only cares about his men; until he ends up falling for the one woman who can rescue his team. Reaper has lived his entire life without love. Living on the edge with no fear, Reaper and his team volunteered for Project Mayhem- a top-secret experiment that uses a serum to enhance physical abilities in order to fight terrorism. Reaper believed the experiment would help save lives, but the serum only ends up taking them. Forced to go on the run, Reaper escapes the lab with his men, only to realize that they need the serum to survive. He has only one choice; return to the lab, and steal the source of the serum.Caroline Cotter used to be a spoiled Senator's daughter; now, she's a victim. Kidnapped and held against her will to make the serum used for Project Mayhem, Caroline gives up hope of ever being free again... until Reaper enters, and frees her from her dark prison. Yet the jungle outside is full of terrors, and government officials are hot on their tail. Reaper plans to keep the relationship between him and Caroline platonic, but undeniable attraction and explosive desire, coupled with Caroline's adoration that he saved her from certain death, make it hard to resist the love story blossoming between them. What will Reaper choose? His romance with Caroline, or the sacred vow he's made to the brothers willing to die by his side? Thrills and action are on every turn of the page in the first book of the Operation Mayhem Series. Packed with adventure, heat, and a slight paranormal twist, Mayhem's Warrior is a dark romantic suspense novel readers will delightfully devour.
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781548675424
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 288
Book Description
Captain T.K. Reaper only cares about his men; until he ends up falling for the one woman who can rescue his team. Reaper has lived his entire life without love. Living on the edge with no fear, Reaper and his team volunteered for Project Mayhem- a top-secret experiment that uses a serum to enhance physical abilities in order to fight terrorism. Reaper believed the experiment would help save lives, but the serum only ends up taking them. Forced to go on the run, Reaper escapes the lab with his men, only to realize that they need the serum to survive. He has only one choice; return to the lab, and steal the source of the serum.Caroline Cotter used to be a spoiled Senator's daughter; now, she's a victim. Kidnapped and held against her will to make the serum used for Project Mayhem, Caroline gives up hope of ever being free again... until Reaper enters, and frees her from her dark prison. Yet the jungle outside is full of terrors, and government officials are hot on their tail. Reaper plans to keep the relationship between him and Caroline platonic, but undeniable attraction and explosive desire, coupled with Caroline's adoration that he saved her from certain death, make it hard to resist the love story blossoming between them. What will Reaper choose? His romance with Caroline, or the sacred vow he's made to the brothers willing to die by his side? Thrills and action are on every turn of the page in the first book of the Operation Mayhem Series. Packed with adventure, heat, and a slight paranormal twist, Mayhem's Warrior is a dark romantic suspense novel readers will delightfully devour.
The Limits of Peacekeeping: Volume 4, The Official History of Australian Peacekeeping, Humanitarian and Post-Cold War Operations
Author: Jean Bou
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108339840
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 1273
Book Description
The Limits of Peacekeeping highlights the Australian government's peacekeeping efforts in Africa and the Americas from 1992 to 2005. Changing world power structures and increased international cooperation saw a boom in Australia's peacekeeping operations between 1991 and 1995. The initial optimism of this period proved to be misplaced, as the limits of the United Nations and the international community to resolve deep-seated problems became clear. There were also limits on how many missions a middle-sized country like Australia could support. Restricted by the size of the armed forces and financial and geographic constraints, peacekeeping was always a secondary task to ensuring the defence of Australia. Faith in the effectiveness of peacekeeping reduced significantly, and the election of the Howard Coalition Government in 1996 confined peacekeeping missions to the near region from 1996–2001. This volume is an authoritative and compelling history of Australia's changing attitudes towards peacekeeping.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108339840
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 1273
Book Description
The Limits of Peacekeeping highlights the Australian government's peacekeeping efforts in Africa and the Americas from 1992 to 2005. Changing world power structures and increased international cooperation saw a boom in Australia's peacekeeping operations between 1991 and 1995. The initial optimism of this period proved to be misplaced, as the limits of the United Nations and the international community to resolve deep-seated problems became clear. There were also limits on how many missions a middle-sized country like Australia could support. Restricted by the size of the armed forces and financial and geographic constraints, peacekeeping was always a secondary task to ensuring the defence of Australia. Faith in the effectiveness of peacekeeping reduced significantly, and the election of the Howard Coalition Government in 1996 confined peacekeeping missions to the near region from 1996–2001. This volume is an authoritative and compelling history of Australia's changing attitudes towards peacekeeping.
Isis Containment & Defeat
Author: Arnold Schuchter
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 1491784148
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 349
Book Description
In the aftermath of terrorist attacks by ISIS (ISIL or Daesh) in Paris, Beirut and on the Russian jet over the Sinai Peninsula, the US and much of the world is focused on crushing the Islamic State. Countless refugees and displaced persons fleeing to Europe, Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan have thrust the long and bloody civil war in Syria and decades of warfare and insurgencies in Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen and Libya into the 2016 presidential political campaign. ISIS terrorism is fueling political opposition in the US to welcoming Syrian refugees and also focusing more attention on terrorists infiltrating Central America with fake passports and illegally crossing the US border with Mexico. Strategies for uprooting, containing and defeating ISIS have to take into account an incredibly complex historical and geopolitical context in the Middle East and Persian Gulf region that has spawned insurgencies, terrorism, widespread disorder, corruption and the meltdown of governance in Syria, Iraq, Libya and Yemen. None of these crises in the Middle East and Africa have had any political, military or counterinsurgency solutions that have worked to contain ISIS and other jihadist terrorism. Further destabilization looms in Syria as the result of Russias military intervention to support Assads brutal regime and supposedly to fight ISIS. Both Russia and Iran have supported Assad for many years. Irans strong financial and other support for Assad is likely to increase when sanctions are lifted as a result of its international nuclear deal. An anti ISIS strategy has to deal with the different agendas of US allies: Turkeys enemy is the Kurds; the Kurds are determined to protect and expand their territories in Iraq and Syria; Saudi and the Gulf States are most concerned about Iran and its proxies; Iran aims to protect and support Shiites in Syria and Iraq; many insurgents in Syria are militant Islamists; and the Afghan government is struggling with reform and Taliban attacks. Next generation COIN (NexGen COIN) strategies central to ISIS containment and defeat, and protecting the US homeland from terrorist attacks, include: recommendations for regional stabilization and reconciliation processes in the Middle East; and creation of protected safehavens under no-fly zones for two purposes: for displaced people in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Yemen that otherwise would become refugees; and to provide safe zones for training and support of local insurgents battling ISIS and other jihadists. NexGen COIN strategies build on: lessons learned from decades of warfare and anti-jihadist counterinsurgencies in the Middle East; years of dedicated work by US military and other experts to revamp US Army COIN doctrine and military rules of operations; US expertise in advanced information technology, machine learning, artificial intelligence and communication technology; special operations experience and capabilities that can provide US frontline advisors/cyberwarriors with unprecedented bottomup decision-making and intelligence gathering and analysis capabilities.
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 1491784148
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 349
Book Description
In the aftermath of terrorist attacks by ISIS (ISIL or Daesh) in Paris, Beirut and on the Russian jet over the Sinai Peninsula, the US and much of the world is focused on crushing the Islamic State. Countless refugees and displaced persons fleeing to Europe, Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan have thrust the long and bloody civil war in Syria and decades of warfare and insurgencies in Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen and Libya into the 2016 presidential political campaign. ISIS terrorism is fueling political opposition in the US to welcoming Syrian refugees and also focusing more attention on terrorists infiltrating Central America with fake passports and illegally crossing the US border with Mexico. Strategies for uprooting, containing and defeating ISIS have to take into account an incredibly complex historical and geopolitical context in the Middle East and Persian Gulf region that has spawned insurgencies, terrorism, widespread disorder, corruption and the meltdown of governance in Syria, Iraq, Libya and Yemen. None of these crises in the Middle East and Africa have had any political, military or counterinsurgency solutions that have worked to contain ISIS and other jihadist terrorism. Further destabilization looms in Syria as the result of Russias military intervention to support Assads brutal regime and supposedly to fight ISIS. Both Russia and Iran have supported Assad for many years. Irans strong financial and other support for Assad is likely to increase when sanctions are lifted as a result of its international nuclear deal. An anti ISIS strategy has to deal with the different agendas of US allies: Turkeys enemy is the Kurds; the Kurds are determined to protect and expand their territories in Iraq and Syria; Saudi and the Gulf States are most concerned about Iran and its proxies; Iran aims to protect and support Shiites in Syria and Iraq; many insurgents in Syria are militant Islamists; and the Afghan government is struggling with reform and Taliban attacks. Next generation COIN (NexGen COIN) strategies central to ISIS containment and defeat, and protecting the US homeland from terrorist attacks, include: recommendations for regional stabilization and reconciliation processes in the Middle East; and creation of protected safehavens under no-fly zones for two purposes: for displaced people in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Yemen that otherwise would become refugees; and to provide safe zones for training and support of local insurgents battling ISIS and other jihadists. NexGen COIN strategies build on: lessons learned from decades of warfare and anti-jihadist counterinsurgencies in the Middle East; years of dedicated work by US military and other experts to revamp US Army COIN doctrine and military rules of operations; US expertise in advanced information technology, machine learning, artificial intelligence and communication technology; special operations experience and capabilities that can provide US frontline advisors/cyberwarriors with unprecedented bottomup decision-making and intelligence gathering and analysis capabilities.