Tom Clancy brings his flair for military fiction to the real thing and takes readers closer than most civilians have ever been to the operatives on which our national security depends. "Special Forces" is a new addition to Clancy's bestselling military nonfiction library as he takes a firs...

Tom Clancy brings his flair for military fiction to the real thing and takes readers closer than most civilians have ever been to the operatives on which our national security depends. "Special Forces" is a new addition to Clancy's bestselling military nonfiction library as he takes a first-hand look at the history, hardware, and heroics of today's most lethal men and women, including the Green Berets. Maps, diagrams & photos.

They are sent to the world's hot spots-on covert missions fraught with danger. They are called on to perform at the peak of their physical and mental capabilities, primed for combat and surveillance, yet ready to pitch in with disaster relief operations. They are the Army's Special Forces Groups. Now follow Tom Clancy as he delves into the training and tools, missions and mindset of these elite operatives.

Special Forcesincludes: - The making of Special Forces personnel: recruitment and training

• A rare look at actual Special Forces Group deployment Exercises

• Tools of the trade: weapons, communications and sensor equipment, survival gear

• Roles and missions: a mini-novel illustrates a probable scenario of Special Forces intervention

• Exclusive photographs, illustrations and diagrams

Plus: an interview withGeneral Hugh Shelton , USA, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (and the former Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Special Operations Command-USSOCOM)