Born as small appendages to the conventional armies of World War II, the Special Operations Forces have grown into a behemoth of 70,000 troops, including Navy SEALs, Army Special Forces, Air Force Night Stalkers, Special Operations Marines, Rangers, and Delta Force. Moyar’s book is the first comprehensive history of these special warriors and their daring missions. Moyar is author of several critically acclaimed books, among them, Triumph Forsaken: The Vietnam War, 1954-1965 (Cambridge University Press, 2006) and A Question of Command: Counterinsurgency from the Civil War to Iraq (Yale University Press, 2009). His articles have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and numerous other publications.