Behind Enemy Lines

Book excerpt: Terror, Torture, Death...It was kill first or be killed for these men who fought their own private hit-and-run war. True accounts of World War II heroic secret raiders whose daring missions behind enemy lines changed the course of the war. Ten accounts of high courage and dedication—stories of the suicidal missions of the World War II. ““Courage knows no nationality"—and it might be added—bounds—which a collection of now-it-can-be-told tales attempts to prove. Mr. Sanderson's stories focus on surpassing daring, audacity and cunning—to match any act of heroism on the field of battle. Usually these intrepid escapades were the work of one ingenious planner; sometimes, however, whole crews engaged in death-defying sorties. The writing catches the spirit of these men with realism and drama, whether the story deals with an incredible plot to kill Rommel (which didn't come off); the disposal of an embryonic Nazi A bomb in Norway in 1943; a "cockleshell" raid along a Nazi-held river; or the grim humor of Britain's only private, "independent" army—Popski's Army, fighting alongside the Tommies in Tunisia.... Good cloak-and-dagger stuff that points up the fact that even the Armed Services had great need of wildly imaginative non-conformists.... For the boys—or men—who are commandos in spirit.”-Kirkus Reviews