Masters of Chaos: The Secret History of the Special Forces - Softcover

Robinson, Linda

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1586483528 ISBN 13: 9781586483524

Publisher: PublicAffairs, 2005

Synopsis

Special Forces soldiers are daring, seasoned troops from America's heartland, selected in a tough competition and trained in an extraordinary range of skills. They know foreign languages and cultures and unconventional warfare better than any U.S. fighters, and while they prefer to stay out of the limelight, veteran war correspondent Linda Robinson gained access to their closed world. She traveled with them on the frontlines, interviewed them at length on their home bases, and studied their doctrine, methods and history. In Masters of Chaos she tells their story through a select group of senior sergeants and field-grade officers, a band of unforgettable characters like Rawhide, Killer, Michael T, and Alan - led by the unflappable Lt. Col. Chris Conner and Col. Charlie Cleveland, a brilliant but self-effacing West Pointer who led the largest unconventional war campaign since Vietnam in northern Iraq.

Robinson follows the Special Forces from their first post-Vietnam combat in Panama, El Salvador, Desert Storm, Somalia, and the Balkans to their recent trials and triumphs in Afghanistan and Iraq. She witnessed their secret sleuthing and unsung successes in southern Iraq, and recounts here for the first time the dramatic firefights of the western desert. Her blow-by-blow story of the attack on Ansar al-Islam's international terrorist training camp has never been told before.

The most comprehensive account ever of the modern-day Special Forces in action, Masters of Chaos is filled with riveting, intimate detail in the words of a close-knit band of soldiers who have done it all.

About this title

Synopsis:

New in paperback, Linda Robinson's intimate, exclusive and New York Times best-selling account of the most secretive and elite soldiers in the US Army today Army Special Forces soldiers have been at the forefront of America's counterterrorist campaigns in recent years. But little is known about the brave, seasoned individuals from America's heartland who belong to this secretive unit. Veteran journalist Linda Robinson gained access to their closed community, traveling with them on the frontlines and interviewing them at their home bases. She describes their training, doctrine and methods, and recounts the missions of this post-Vietnam generation fo commandos in Panama, El Salvador, Desert Storm, Somalia, the Balkans, Afghanistan and Iraq. More Special Forces were deployed in Iraq than in any previous conflict, and Masters of Chaos recounts in detail their untold missions in the north against Ansar al-Islam and the dramatic race to secure the western desert with a handful of men aboard the "war pigs".

Through this elite band of patriots, men like "Rawhide", Alan, "Killer", Michael T, "Grit" and Colonel Charlie, Linda Robinson provides a gripping narrative of US Special Forces in action.

About the Author:

Linda Robinson is a senior writer for U.S. News & World Report. She was a Nieman fellow at Harvard University in 2000-2001 and in 1999 she received the Maria Moors Cabot prize form Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. She has covered numerous wars, guerrilla conflicts and special forces' operations, and currently lives in Washington, D.C.

About this edition

• Publisher: PublicAffairs
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 1586483528
• ISBN 13: 9781586483524
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 416