The vast number of written accounts studying the British Special Forces in the Second World War overlook the fact that the Germans were actually the first to utilize this unconventional style of warfare. Indeed, two days before the official declaration of war German commando units disguised as Poles had already seized key positions along the frontier, and for three years after this Admiral Canaris' Brandenburgers, formed long before the British Commandos or American Rangers were dreamed of, played a key role in Hitler's military operations. Their operations ranged from capturing the bridges across the River Meuse in 1940 to supporting the IRA and Welsh Nationalists to stir up trouble within Britain. Charles Whiting, who interviewed many of the survivors, gives a vivid account of these men and their war.Charles Whiting wrote his first novel in 1953, aged just twenty-six. He went on to be the world's most prolific author of military books; he has sold in excess of three million in the UK alone, and his collective works number around 200. Charles also lived abroad for thirty years working in German chemical factories, US fashion companies, newspapers, magazines, universities - as an associate professor and lecturer - and spent a long spell in the US army. He died in 2007.