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The Forgotten British Special Operations Soldiers of World War II
by Shannon Monaghan
The untold story of four special operations officers who fought together behind enemy lines across multiple theaters of World War II, and then continued to serve, officially and unofficially, for decades after in the hottest parts of the Cold War.
There have always been special warriors; Achilles and his Myrmidons are the obvious classical examples. What we now think of as "special operations," however, were born in World War II, and one of the earliest and most exciting units formed was Britain's SOE. In the early years of the war, when Britain stood alone against the Nazis, Winston Churchill put them on a mission to "set Europe ablaze": to foment local revolt, to gather intelligence, to blow up bridges, and to do anything that could help to disrupt the Axis cause. A Quiet Company of Dangerous Men follows four SOE officers who distinguished themselves in this fight: the Spanish Civil War veteran Peter Kemp, the demolitions expert David Smiley, the born guerrilla leader Billy McLean, and the political natural Julian Amery.
With new and extensive research, including unprecedented access to private family papers that reveal the men's unbreakable bonds and vibrant personalities, Shannon Monaghan has uncovered a story of war in the twentieth century that, due to the secretive nature of the SOE's work, has remained largely unknown. A Quiet Company of Dangerous Men is a thrilling and inspiring story of four remarkable men who, through sheer determination and daring, as well as unwavering friendship and loyalty, fought for a better world.
"A well-told tale that sets the fictional worlds of Ian Fleming and John le Carré in real-life perspective." —Kirkus Reviews
"A Quiet Company of Dangerous Men is a thoroughly researched book that brings to life some of the incredible personalities who pioneered special operations for the SOE. It sheds new light on how, long before D-Day, the British were taking the fight far behind enemy lines in Nazi-occupied Europe." —Sam Kleiner, author of The Flying Tigers
"The heroic exploits of Britain's Special Operations soldiers finally receive in A Quiet Company of Dangerous Men a comprehensive and objective study, rich in humanity, anecdote, and, above all, relevance to a world once more in the throes of The Great Game." —Richard Bassett, author of Hitler's Spy Chief
This information about A Quiet Company of Dangerous Men was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Shannon Monaghan is a historian of modern war. She started her career interning in international arms transfers at the State Department. Since then, she has worked in strategy consulting and data analytics, ridden a road bike over the Continental Divide, and taught writing at Harvard. She earned degrees in History from Yale (B.A.) and Boston College (M.A., Ph.D.).
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