> Skip to content
[]
  • Published: 4 July 2026
  • ISBN: 9780241767122
  • Imprint: Michael Joseph
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 352
  • RRP: $55.00

SAS 101



The action-packed story of the British Army’s Long Range Desert Group in WWII - the British army's original Rogue Heroes

War came to North Africa in June 1940. But it was over a year before a newly-formed SAS went into action. Until then, the fight belonged to an elite, top secret band of brothers called the Long Range Desert Group.

They were Britain’s first special forces.

Born out of a pre-war club of explorers, eccentrics and mavericks, the LRDG operated alone behind enemy lines, performing astonishing feats of navigation, endurance and survival, and paved the way for the SAS.

Drawing on his own decade’s service with UK Special Forces, Titch Cormack brings to life the action-packed but little-known story of Britain’s original rogue heroes.

  • Published: 4 July 2026
  • ISBN: 9780241767122
  • Imprint: Michael Joseph
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 352
  • RRP: $55.00

About the author

Titch Cormack

Steve ‘Titch’ Cormack served eleven years with the Royal Marine Commandos and another ten with the Special Boat Service. He saw active service throughout the world in both conventional and covert operations. His final appointment was within UK Special Forces as Chief Mobility Instructor. On retiring from the military he set up ‘The S-Bomb vintage workshop’ building customised motorbikes and cars and starred in the hit BBC TV series The Speedshop. He lives in Poole. SAS 101 is his first book. Insta: @titchcormack @sbombvintageworkshop

Praise for SAS 101

Titch has done something rare: he’s written about Special Forces with the honesty of someone who’s lived the trade, and the historian’s discipline to prove every hard point. From his own path through the Royal Marines and the SBS, he takes you back to the real genesis of modern UKSF doctrine — not the myth, but the men and mechanics who made it work, day after day, mile after brutal mile. A gripping deep-dive into the skills, resilience, and hard-won mindset required to survive—and prevail against the enemy—in the harshest environment on Earth. You’ll feel the institutional friction that nearly strangled the Long Range Desert Group at birth, and you’ll see how success in that kind of war in that kind of war isn’t about brute force, but about intelligence, adaptability, and nerve—earned the hard way, under relentless pressure. I served with the author. I’ve seen courage. This book reminds you where ours came from.

AL CARNS