WWII Western Desert SAS Book - Speed, Aggression Surprise

Even though I now seem to be a hardened Audible book listener these days, I do still gain pleasure from reading books in the traditional way (see below, ["Speed, Aggression, Surprise"] SAS related - LRDP North African Campaign, but more interestingly informing on miscellanea such as the1941 Levant campaign against the Vichy French and what can be best described as an early form of "strategic Psy-Ops" in the Mediterranean theatre of operations):  

Entertaining, illuminating and therefore "hand on heart", the book can be highly recommended as a good read. The genius behind much of the subterfuge being a little known British officer called Dudley Clarke, with the creation of phantom armies and Axis misdirection being his speciality. If I tried to list all the schemes devised, I would be doing them and him an injustice - instead I can recommend the book. It is sobering to read about the formation of the SAS in the context of this maelstrom of intrigue. Certain unconventional officers having a desire to put their hard earned Commando special training, learnt from the Scottish Highlands to good use, matched equally with the need to avoid standard "military bull". To think of the SAS as one of the many quirky "special forces" units and ideas floating around at the time. The LRDP by contrast being fathered in a more specialised pre-war incubation of foresight, fostered by Wavell, Hobart and Ralph Bagnold. Indeed the success of 1941 Commando Operations was highly debatable with a strong anti-special operations meme from the established military in general. Auchinleck gave the SAS an "in", being named as a parachute unit by accident brought in Clarke's distanced "approval" or "help" (despite a disastrous first parachute operation that nearly killed all the SAS participants) and really saved by the LRDP professionalism. Post North Africa, the SAS seemed to be a solution looking for a problem - "helping" French partisans in guerrilla warfare, almost fitting the bill?  

Rogue Heroes Inspired Journey Continues .. Next Stop a Book!

Following on from my interest in the BBC TV series I was naturally "hooked" by the array of SAS themed books in the supermarket "in the fashionable to be reading" section, aka an area of distraction for bored dads and teenagers. I was spoilt for choice with three SAS North African Dessert themed tomes on display (see below, I chose 'Sped Aggression Surprise' a bargain with a pre-Xmas tenner spent in a flash in Tesco): 

I chose not the overtly BBC (as in, based on the recent series) one, reasoning on grounds on diversity of background research and flick-through appeal (it was not so heavy on pictures and had maps but the also content looked more interesting). Not disappointed to date, as a hundred or so pages in and it has elaborated on the pre-North African history of the SAS and the funny "other things" (Vichy French, Abyssinia, Iraq, Levant) going on around the rest of the Mediterranean at that time. The crazy intelligence chief who fabricated a SAS back-story, based on feeding the Axis disinformation features prominently (this being a certain staff officer Dudley Wrangel Clarke).

WIP: Still reading, the SAS "proper" has not appeared yet, but there is a lot of pre-SAS Commando units being talked about!