{"title":"Mark Urban","description":"MARK URBAN is Diplomatic and Defense Editor of the BBC's Newsnight. He has covered many of the world's conflicts during the past twenty-five years, including the Iraq campaign that began in 2003. He lives in London.","products":[{"product_id":"task-force-black-the-explosive-true-story-of-the-secret-special-forces-war-in-iraq-paperback","title":"Task Force Black: The Explosive True Story of the Secret Special Forces War in Iraq - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe true story of one of the most dramatic and sustained special operations in military history\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen American and British forces invaded Iraq in March 2003, select teams of special forces and intelligence operatives got to work looking for the WMD their governments had promised were there. They quickly realized no such weapons existed. Instead they faced an insurgency--a soaring spiral of extremism and violence that was almost impossible to understand, let alone reverse. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFacing defeat, the Coalition waged a hidden war within a war. Major-General Stan McChrystal devised a campaign fusing special forces, aircraft, and the latest surveillance technology with the aim of taking down the enemy faster than it could regenerate. Guided by intelligence, British and American special forces conducted a relentless onslaught, night after night targeting al-Qaeda and other insurgent groups. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eTask Force Black, \u003c\/i\u003e author Mark Urban reveals not only the intensity of the secret fight that turned the tide in Baghdad but the rivalries and personal battles that had to be overcome along the way. Incisive, dramatic, exceptionally revealing, the war in Iraq cannot be understood without this book.","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51366645563615,"sku":"9781250006967","price":24.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/zxX-8VeFXH9781250006967.webp?v=1789095226"},{"product_id":"the-man-who-broke-napoleons-codes-paperback","title":"The Man Who Broke Napoleon's Codes - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eSpanning the battle of Corunna in 1809 to the 1815 victory at Waterloo, this is the dramatic true-life tale of an unsung hero in Wellington's army.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCommon-born George Scovell -- an engraver's apprentice -- joins the British Army during the Napoleonic Wars and becomes a commissioned officer. As Bonaparte's juggernaut marches across Europe, Scovell soon proves himself a linguistic genius and begins to crack the basic codes used in French dispatches, giving General Wellington advance knowledge of French plans. But as the enemy changes from simple ciphers to baffling \"next to impossible\" encoded messages, Scovell finds himself racing against time to break the legendary \"Great Paris Cipher\" and save the British Army.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe thrill of clashing armies, challenging puzzles, and the personal struggle of a long-forgotten hero make \u003cem\u003eThe Man Who Broke Napoleon's Codes\u003c\/em\u003e a gripping -- and brain-teasing -- adventure.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eBack Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eSpanning the battle of Corunna in 1809 to the 1815 victory at Waterloo, this is the dramatic true-life tale of an unsung hero in Wellington's army.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCommon-born George Scovell -- an engraver's apprentice -- joins the British Army during the Napoleonic Wars and becomes a commissioned officer. As Bonaparte's juggernaut marches across Europe, Scovell soon proves himself a linguistic genius and begins to crack the basic codes used in French dispatches, giving General Wellington advance knowledge of French plans. But as the enemy changes from simple ciphers to baffling \"next to impossible\" encoded messages, Scovell finds himself racing against time to break the legendary \"Great Paris Cipher\" and save the British Army.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe thrill of clashing armies, challenging puzzles, and the personal struggle of a long-forgotten hero make \u003cem\u003eThe Man Who Broke Napoleon's Codes\u003c\/em\u003e a gripping -- and brain-teasing -- adventure.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51369692430559,"sku":"9780060934552","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/X_OnWny9TN9780060934552.webp?v=1789144312"}],"url":"https:\/\/blackandbarhe.com\/collections\/mark-urban.oembed","provider":"Black \u0026 Barhe Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}