The September 11 2001 events in the United States, and the follow-up military action in Afghanistan, have served to highlight both the need for and rapid deployment of specially trained and equipped special forces. This fascinating volume is a timely reference work detailing the world's most important military (and paramilitary) special forces, their organisation, their training, their uniforms and equipment, and their specially developed weapons. Crammed with facts and analysis, and information on operations, it is illustrated with dramatic action photographs, many of them extremely rare, as well as detailed artworks.