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  • SBS – Silent Warriors

  • The Authorised Wartime History
  • By: Saul David
  • Narrated by: John Hopkins
  • Length: 14 hrs and 38 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (22 ratings)

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SBS – Silent Warriors

By: Saul David
Narrated by: John Hopkins
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Publisher's Summary

The Sunday Times best seller

The first authorised history of the SBS. 

Britain’s SBS - or Special Boat Service - was the world’s first maritime special operations unit. Founded in the dark days of 1940, it started as a small and inexperienced outfit that leaned heavily on volunteers’ raw courage and boyish enthusiasm. It went on to change the course of the Second World War - and has served as a model for special forces ever since. 

The fledgling unit’s first mission was a daring beach reconnaissance of Rhodes in the spring of 1941. Over the next four years, the SBS and its affiliates would carry out many more spectacular operations in the Mediterranean, the Atlantic, the Channel and the Far East. These missions - including Operation Frankton, the daredevil attempt by the ‘Cockleshell Heroes’ to paddle up the Garonne river and sink Axis ships in Bordeaux harbour - were some of the most audacious and legendary of the war.

Paddling flimsy canoes, and armed only with knives, pistols and a few sub-machine guns, this handful of brave and determined men operated deep behind enemy lines in the full knowledge that if caught they might be executed. Many were.

Yet their many improbable achievements - destroying enemy ships and infrastructure, landing secret agents, tying up enemy forces, spreading fear and uncertainty, and, most importantly, preparing the ground for D-Day - helped to make an Allied victory possible.

Written with the full cooperation of the modern SBS - the first time this ultra-secretive unit has given its seal of approval to any book - and exclusive access to its archives, SBS: Silent Warriors allows Britain’s original special forces to emerge from the shadows and take their proper and deserved place in our island story.

©2021 Saul David (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers Limited
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

Critic Reviews

"A terrific book.... It really is one of the most enjoyable histories I’ve read in many a year." (James Holland)

"An absolute must-read if you are a fan of derring-do and Andy McNab. I am going to be telling everyone to buy it." (Rob Rinder, Talk Radio)

What listeners say about SBS – Silent Warriors

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Well told history

First thing, John Hopkins has the perfect voice for the narration of this story. Very proper and very British. Somehow I felt as though he was reading it just for me.
The story intertwines a good mix of historical facts with individual stories. I've certainly come away with a better appreciation of how the unit was formed and the types of people that shaped its history and filled its ranks.

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Brave men of the SBS

This was such a great story about a small number of incredibly brave men who operated at times behind enemy lines and at other times in the most dangerous of situations. They did not receive the full recognition they so strongly deserved.

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Amazing book, amazing men!

Riveting, from start to finish. Amazing men! Well spoken narrator as well. Can't recommend it high enough

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