Richard Rutter

Cynthia Waddell

Shawn Lawton Henry

Andrew Kirkpatrick

Patrick H. Lauke

Jim Thatcher

Bruce Lawson

Christian Heilmann

Michael R. Burks

Bob Regan

Mark Urban

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Rifles

'A scrupulous piece of reporting, necessary, timely and very sobering' John Le CarréA Sunday Times Best Book of 2018 Agent. Prisoner. Target.Who is Sergei Skripal? 4 March 2018, Salisbury, England.A man and his daughter are found slumped on a bench, poisoned by the deadly nerve agent Novichok. He was a Russian national that became a MI6 spy. Russia are publicly accused of carrying out the attack by the British government, sparking a diplomatic crisis between Russia and the West. Then two innocent people find a discarded perfume bottle used in the attack and one of them, Dawn Sturgess, tragically dies. It is now a murder investigation. How exactly did we get here? Based on interviews with Sergei before his poisoning, Mark Urban explains the most shocking espionage incident in a decade. Describing precisely how an otherwise loyal Russian intelligence officer was turned into an agent by MI6, how Skripal was betrayed so that he found himself in a Siberian prison, and why, years later, was he was targeted for assassination.

Putin, Poison and the New Spy War

The Skripal Files

Es ist ein True-Life Le Carré: Im Frühjahr 2018 werden der ehemalige russische Doppelagent Sergej Skripal und seine Tochter Julija in England mit lebensbedrohlichen Vergiftungserscheinungen aufgefunden. Es gibt kaum Zweifel daran, dass der russische Geheimdienst hinter dem Anschlag mit dem Nervengift Nowitschok steckt. Zahlreiche Staaten weltweit weisen daraufhin über 140 russische Diplomaten aus, Handelssanktionen werden verhängt – die Beziehungen zwischen Russland und dem Westen erreichen ihren absoluten Tiefpunkt seit dem Kalten Krieg. Mark Urban, der als BBC- Reporter seit Jahrzehnten über die Schattenwelt der Spionage berichtet, ist der einzige, dem sich Skripal anvertraut hat. Von 2017 bis zu dem Attentat führte der Autor mit ihm zahlreiche Exklusivinterviews. Das Ergebnis: Ein packendes Buch, das tief hineinführt in das neue Machtspiel zwischen Ost und West. Angefangen bei Skripals Leben als Oberst des russischen Geheimdienstes, legt Mark Urban die Motive des Russen offen, sich als Doppelagent für den britischen MI6 zu verdingen, erzählt von seiner Verhaftung und seinem Prozess in Russland und von Srkipals Leben in Salisbury im Süden Englands, wo der Ex-Spion seit einem Agentenaustausch im Jahr 2010 lebt – in ständiger Furcht vor der Rache Putins. Vielmehr jedoch enthüllt „Die Akte Skripal" als erstes Buch die Ereignisse, die zu dem versuchten Giftmord führten. Es stellt den schicksalhaften Tag des Anschlags in einen größeren politischen Kontext und zeigt, welche Bedeutung er für die Zukunft der Beziehungen zwischen Russland und dem Westen hat.

Der neue Spionagekrieg und Russlands langer Arm in den Westen

Die Akte Skripal

`Accurate, revelatory and fascinating' Sunday Times (for UK Eyes Alpha) --

The Explosive True Story of the SAS and the Secret War in Iraq

Task Force Black

The SAS describes its attitude to the use of lethal force as 'Big boys' games, big boys' rules'. Anyone caught with a gun or bomb can expect to be shot. In Big Boys' Rules: The SAS and the Secret Struggle Against the IRA Mark Urban meticulously explores the security forces' covert operations in Northern Ireland: from the mid-1970s, when they were stepped up, to the Loughall ambush in 1987, in which eight IRA Provisionals were killed. While charting the successes and failures of special operations during the troubles, Urban reveals the unenviable dilemmas faced by intelligence chiefs engaged in a daily struggle against one of the world's most sophisticated terrorist organisations.'This is a book that needed to be written and which fulfils the essentials of any Ulster story; it expands understanding beyond fragmented jingoism and newspaper headlines.' John Stalker, Sunday Times

The Secret Struggle Against the IRA

Big Boys' Rules

The Skripal Files tells the full story behind the Salisbury Poisonings, one of the most shocking incidents to occur in Britain in recent memory. Broadcaster and historian Mark Urban interviewed Sergei Skripal in the months before the poisoning and explains why Skripal was targeted for assassination. 'A scrupulous piece of reporting, necessary, timely and very sobering' – John Le Carré Chosen as one of the best political books of 2018 by the Sunday Times. 4 March 2018, Salisbury, England. Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were enjoying a rare and peaceful Sunday spent together, completely unaware that they had been poisoned with the deadly nerve agent Novichok. Hours later both were found slumped on a park bench close to death. Following their attempted murders on British soil, Russia was publicly accused by the West of carrying out the attack, marking a new low for international relations between the two since the end of the Cold War. The Skripal Files is the definitive account of the Salisbury Poisonings and how Skripal’s story fits into the wider context of the new spy war between Russia and the West. The book explores Sergei's past as a spy in the Russian military intelligence, explains how he was turned to work as an agent by MI6, and his imprisonment in Siberia. His eventual release as part of a spy-swap brought him to Salisbury where, on that fateful day, he and his daughter found themselves fighting for their lives.

An account of British intelligence since Gorbachev came to power in 1985. The author presents a list of what he claims are failures by every British intelligence organization, and raises questions about the value of the traditional structures and organizations that are a legacy of the Cold War.

UK Eyes Alpha

A GRIPPING AUTHORISED HISTORY OF THE DARING 'RED DEVILS', THE TRAILBLAZERS OF THE PARACHUTE REGIMENT On the 80th anniversary of their first crucial campaign, in Operation Torch in North Africa, Mark Urban tells the gripping story of the creation and development of the "Red Devils" - the name given to them by their German enemies - who ranged from circus performers to solicitors, policemen to gravediggers, Christians and Jews to communists. Through the fates of six heroes, from recently-widowed Geoffrey Pine-Coffin, who had to leave his little boy to head to the front, to Mike Lewis, whose photographs became iconic images of war, Urban vividly brings to life these men and their experiences, showing what drove them and covering their daring actions at D-Day, Arnhem and across the Second World War. All six characters would shed blood for their country, two would not survive and one would face disgrace in the regiment. Based on deep archival research, British and German sources, and new material from the men's families, and giving overdue recognition to the North African campaign, this compelling account paints a true and moving picture of the heart of war.

The Trailblazers of the Parachute Regiment in WW2: An Authorized History

Red Devils

The Illegal

Eight Years with the Redcoats in America

Fusiliers

Mark Urban tells the story of ten exceptional soldiers who left their mark on Britain and the world. Some including Wellington, Kitchener and Montgomery are names etched in the national mythology. Others are more obscure figures whose achievements or failures may have had consequences quite different to those they had intended. All ten of these generals revealed either a brilliant ability or a fatal flaw. Success or failure depended largely on their ability to work within Britain's Parliamentary democracy and against tyrants, despots and emperors who were often free to act alone.

Ten British Commanders who Shaped the World

Generals

From Lexington Green in 1775 to Yorktown in 1781, one regiment marched thousands of miles and fought a dozen battles to uphold British rule in America: the Royal Welch Fusiliers. Along the way, the Fusiliers adopted new tactics and promoted new leaders which together laid the foundations for the subsequent performance against Napoleon. Drawing on a wealth of new research, Mark Urban, author of the bestselling Rifles, reveals the inner life of the regiment - and, through it, of the British Army as a whole - as it lost the battle against the American revolutionaries, but simultaneously revolutionised the way Britain fought.

This description of the military struggle for Afghanistan concerns the objectives, operations, tactics and effectiveness of the forces involved in that struggle. The aim is to describe the war as objectively and in as much detail as possible.

War in Afghanistan

In 1812 two mighty armies manoeuvred across the Spanish plains. They were finely balanced, under skilful leaders. Each struggled to gain an advantage. Wellington knew that if he defeated the French, he could turn the tide of the war. Good intelligence was paramount, but the French were using a code of unrivalled complexity - the 'Great Paris Cipher'. It was an unprecedented challenge, and Wellington looked to one man to break the code: Major George Scovell. Using a network of Spanish guerrillas, Scovell amassed a stack of coded French messages, and set to work decrypting them. As a man of low birth, Scovell - even with his genius for languages, and bravery on a dozen battlefields - struggled for advancement amongst Wellington's inner circle of wealthier, better connected officers. Mark Urban draws on a wealth of original sources, including many cyphers and code-tables, to restore Scovell to his rightful place in history as the man who was the brains behind the intelligence battle against Napoleon's army and a forerunner of the great code-breakers of the 20th Century.

The Story of George Scovell

The Man Who Broke Napoleon's Codes

„Co se týká zrádců, sami natáhnou bačkory, to vás ujišťuji... Ať už si těch špinavých třicet stříbrných vzali od kohokoliv, nakonec se jimi zalknou.“ VLADIMIR PUTIN, ZÁŘÍ 2010 Kauza Skripal vypráví strhující příběh o otravě Sergeje Skripala a nové špionážní válce mezi Západem a Východem. Kniha je založena na mnoha hodinách exkluzivních rozhovorů mezi Sergejem Skripalem a Markem Urbanem, známým spisovatelem a zahraničněpolitickým a bezpečnostním redaktorem pořadu BBC Newsnight, které proběhly krátce předtím, než se Skripal stal obětí chemického útoku. Neděle 4. března 2018, Salisbury, Anglie Sergej Skripal s dcerou Julií si pokojně užívají vzácné společné chvíle. Netuší, že byli otráveni novičokem, smrtícím nervovým jedem. O pár hodin později je lidé najdou zhroucené na lavičce v parku. Jejich životy visí na vlásku. Spojené království z tohoto pokusu o vraždu na britské půdě veřejně obviní Rusko, což vede k největšímu ochlazení vztahů mezi oběma zeměmi od dob studené války. V ruce držíte obsáhlou výpověď o tom, jak Skripalův příběh zapadá do širšího kontextu nové špionážní války mezi Ruskem a Západem. Tato kniha se věnuje období, kdy Skripal působil jako agent ruské vojenské rozvědky, líčí začátek jeho spolupráce s MI6, jeho zatčení v Rusku i následné propuštění v rámci výměny špionů, jež ho nakonec dovedla až do Salisbury, kde se onoho osudného dne i s dcerou ocitl v bezprostředním ohrožení života. MARK URBAN je britský reportér, televizní moderátor a historik. Čtyři roky pracoval jako vojenský a bezpečnostní korespondent deníku Independent, pro který psal reportáže o konci studené války a stažení sovětských vojsk z Afghánistánu. Je také uznávaným autorem vojenskohistorické literatury. V češtině vyšla jeho kniha Generálové: Deset britských velitelů, kteří ovlivnili svět. Mark Urban studoval mezinárodní vztahy na London School of Economics a krátce sloužil v britské armádě.

Příběh ruského špiona, který přežil svou smrt

Kauza Skripal

As part of the Light Division created to act as the advance guard of Wellington's army, the 95th Rifles are the first into battle and the last out. Fighting and thieving their way across Europe, they are clearly no ordinary troops. The 95th are in fact the first British soldiers to take aim at their targets, to take cover when being shot at, to move tactically by fire and manoeuvre. And by the end of the six-year campaign they have not only proved themselves the toughest fighters in the army, they have also - at huge personal cost - created the modern notion of the infantryman. In an exhilarating work of narrative military history, Mark Urban traces the story of the 95th Rifles, the toughest and deadliest sharpshooters of Wellington's Army. 'If you like Sharpe, then this book is a must, your Christmas present solved.' Bernard Cornwell, Daily Mail 'Urban writes history the way it should be written, alive and exciting.' Andy McNab

Six Years with Wellington's Legendary Sharpshooters

The size of western armed forces, their stocks of weaponry and their readiness for combat are declining. Meanwhile, growing nationalism is hampering international cooperation and fuelling conflict everywhere. The west's will - as well as its capability - to shape the world is ebbing away. Beset by economic woes, western countries are continuing the post-Cold War process of disarmament at the very moment that many believe a new Cold War is starting. NATO members have compared Vladimir Putin's foreign policy to that of Adolf Hitler, newly empowered groups such as ISIS, not to mention some governments, are tearing up the rulebook of acceptable international behaviour, and the military prowess that the western world once regarded as its prerogative is being dwarfed by countries like India and China. Tightly argued by Newsnight's diplomatic and defence editor Mark Urban, THE EDGE is a sharp polemic that breaks new ground in examining the workings and consequences of these geo-political tectonics, and shows just how rapidly the balance of power has been upended.

Is the Military Dominance of the West Coming to an End?

The Edge

Drawing on a wealth of research, from interviews with surviving members to a treasure trove of rarely used archive material, Mark Urban has produced an unflinchingly honest, unsentimental account of the 5th RTR's wartime experiences. Capturing both characters in their crew and exploring the strategy behind their success, 'The Tank War' is not the story of an elite unit, but something more amazing: a regular unit of average men, thrust into war, who pulled together to achieve extraordinary things.

Mark Urban

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