Shadow Warriors
Inside the Special Forces

By Tom Clancy with General Carl Stiner (Ret.)
Putnam, $29.95
ISBN 0399147837

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The soldiers in the shadows

It's ironic that in the hours following the September 11 attacks, the networks scrambled to interview not some four-star general or university professor, but a former insurance salesman from Maryland. Tom Clancy, who is neither a veteran nor a military scholar, is nevertheless remarkably well versed in the methods, capabilities and personalities of this and other countries' fighting forces. He was a natural choice for interrogation in those first harrowing hours. Over the years, his novels have dealt with just about every aspect of modern warfare. While his fame and wealth have come from the fictional escapades of characters like Jack Ryan, Clancy is also the co-author of a series of books detailing the intricacies of military history. Shadow Warriors is the newest entry in this series.

The Special Forces, the shadow warriors of the title, are in the vanguard of U.S. military actions. Clancy and his co-author, retired General Carl Stiner, trace the team's beginnings from the latter days of World War II, through the turbulent '60s and '70s, and bring the reader up-to-date with a look at the Forces' different, almost personal way of waging war and their increasing importance today.

Clancy has always been a great storyteller; his skills in weaving factual information into a fictional plot are second to none. In Shadow Warriors he takes these skills and brings battlefield stories to life. Clancy and Stiner cover the gamut of the Special Forces' many branches, from the SEALS to the Rangers, from Delta Force to PsyOps. They profile the leaders and the grunts whose missions have ranged from the Vietnam War to Desert Storm, and they show that modern warfare encompasses not only weapons and tactics, but teaching and helping people.

Over the course of the team's history, as the book shows, the leaders of the Special Forces put their reputations, their careers and their lives on the line to make it what it is today. War is becoming increasingly complicated, but it is a fact that in the end, battles are won on the ground by human beings. Shadow Warriors is a fitting tribute to those who fight.

James Neal Webb does copyright research for Vanderbilt University in Nashville.