The Phantom Major

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The Phantom Major

By: Virginia Cowles

Narrated by: Robert Whitfield

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About this listen

In the dark and uncertain days of 1941 and 1942, when Rommel's tanks were sweeping towards Suez, a handful of daring raiders were making history for the Allies. They operated deep behind the German lines, often driving hundreds of miles through the deserts of North Africa. They hid by day and struck by night, destroying aircraft, blowing up ammunition dumps, derailing trains, and killing many times their own number.

These were the SAS, Stirling's desert raiders, the brainchild of a deceptively mild-mannered man with a brilliant idea. Small teams of resourceful, highly trained men would penetrate beyond the front lines of the opposing armies and wreak havoc where the Germans least expected it.

The Phantom Major is the classic account of these desert raids, an amazing tale of courage, impudence, and daring, packed with action and high adventure. An intimate record based on eyewitness accounts, this book still stands as the definitive history of the early years of the SAS.

(P)2001 Blackstone Audiobooks

Military

Thought-Provoking

War

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Critic reviews

"This military story is ideally suited to audio: maps aren't necessary to follow its excitement, and the reader adds a pleasing dimension with his skill at accents, reminding us of whom the story is about." ( AudioFile)

Most relevant

Despite some rather dodgy attempts at accents this audiobook is a thrilling adventure - made all the more exciting because the incidents were factual.

Less for the serious military historian than the casual 'war buff', factual backgrounds to the war in the desert are secondary to the escapades of David Sterling and his SAS (the LRDG gets good mention too).

The listener is led from one dramatic incident to another - and one can recognise many of the episodes in this book, which have been undoubtedly, influences numerous war movies.

An excellent 'listen' - though one might consider it cavalier, that is only fair as that is exactly what David Sterling was...Cavalier!

A ripping yarn!