Although the book is a very valuable information source for the most serious of readers, it is not a dry account. It provides excitement and intrigue in a very readable style that concludes with all of the tables that should be included into a source work. There is illustration, confined to a B&W plate section and a few maps in ... Read morethe body of the book, but the illustration fully supports the unique content. Although the author did not begin writing the book until the 1990s, he had the great advantage of SOE service in the area during WWII. This personal direct involvement in the story may account for the lively and authoritative style, where a personal perspective must have been of enormous assistance in working through the restricted files that he was given access to. The resulting history is outstanding and a classic that will be of great value as long as readers have an interest in many subjects that combine into the story. Firetrench Reviews Sir brooks Richards has written about a little known and even lesser researched area of clandestine warfare using small craft to evacuate personnel, land agents and generally cause mayhem in occupied/enemy territories in the Mediterranean. Marine News Show Less