A stone’s throw away from the House of Commons and Westminster Abbey lies the St. Ermin’s Hotel in London. Apart from being one of the best addresses in the City, the iconic establishment hosted Winston Churchill, who liked to sip his favourite Champagne at the Caxton Bar. There was even a secret tunnel linking the hotel lobby to Parliament. During a meeting at St. Emin’s, he asked a group of unconventional people to “Set Europe Ablaze” in founding the Special Operations Executive – the legendary SOE. Any visitor to St. Ermin’s can enjoy the sight of a monastic-sized room where the contribution of its members is soberly showcased.

Thanks to a miniseries like SAS: Rogue Heroes, the inestimable achievements of the men and women who waged unconventional warfare in World War II’s most punishing conditions are vividly brought back to public awareness. Shannon Monaghan’s book A Company of Dangerous Men: The Forgotten British Special Operations Soldiers of World War II (Viking) is another significant and euphemistically pleasant contribution. This enthralling book reminded me of Alexandre Dumas’s The Three Musketeers, the elite corps defending the King of France against domestic and foreign threats.

The adventurous service of Julian Amery and Peter Kemp—a warrior who “combined the manners of a prince with the combat instincts of a pirate”—Billy McLean and David Smiley reveals the unequalled trouble these disciples of Lawrence of Arabia (a figure that is mentioned on many occasions in the book) took to thwart Nemesis in a hostile environment from the Balkans to Southeast Asia, passing through the Arabic Peninsula.

Fighting declared enemies is one thing, but countering duplicity from colleagues who were double agents on Moscow’s payroll or betrayal by supposed allies who divulged their whereabouts to the Germans is another ballgame. Fortunately, the situation was not always that treacherous. In that regard, the talented historian of modern war refreshingly evokes the loyalty of the Thai resistance members whom David Smiley was tasked to help in the last leg of World War II. There are episodes between the covers when you can feel as if you are watching a James Bond movie, such as when you read that Smiley was once equipped with a “briefcase [that] was the latest from SOE’s toy factory, known as the Museum.” Reality sometimes dances with fiction.

While V-E Day marked the termination of the enlistment for most soldiers in 1945, the SOE kept vigil in different theatres where Great Britain was still involved for geopolitical purposes. Another common thread in the characters’ journeys is that their cloak-and-dagger days continued after the guns fell silent. They continued to serve, whether through their political careers (Amery and McLean) or the disguise of another job (Kemp and Smiley). In Oman, which “was strategically crucial to Britain […] Smiley had fought for the Sultan against Saudi-backed rebels.” A few years later, London was also involved in Yemen. The port of its capital, Aden, was vital because of its role as a gateway between the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea – a few knots from the Bab-el-Manded Strait, a key passage in the geopolitical landscape of the Middle East to this day. Smiley was taken aback when his friend McLean introduced him to Amir Faisal, who would succeed King Saud in a short while. Smiley was to be tasked with helping the Saudi-supported Yemeni Royalists.

McLean informed Amir Faisal that his colleague had fought against his people in Oman. The latter retorted that he knew it and that the SOE operative had just fulfilled his mission. “Faisal, writes the author, was wise enough to realize that the best man to employ was the one who had defeated him the last time.” Coming to such a conclusion takes a massive dose of humility and wisdom.

SOE didn’t only cross swords with Nazis, communists and Nasserites. They were also active in French Indochina, where one of the four officers portrayed experienced a painful loss in the confrontation with the cruel Viet Minh forces during which the SOE operatives were allied with the French. Their American colleagues at the OSS (Office of Strategic Services, the ancestor of the CIA) were also active in these jungles. Still, they were blinded by the “cozy relationship” they developed with none other than Ho Chi Minh. Their dislike of the French most probably also played a role. The famous guerilla leader would triumph over them after a costly war a few decades later. No one can foresee the future, but Washington’s operators might have been better advised to follow the lead of their British counterparts in understanding the nature of their future adversary.

Nowadays, in such short supply on the world scene, sagacity is an art these warfare practitioners impeccably perform. Julian Amery, who entered public life and served as a Conservative politician and Cabinet minister responsible for several portfolios under different administrations, realized that influence was preferable to power for postwar Britain.

Reading about the role played by British commandos in facilitating the participation of Ukrainian generals in a meeting with Western military leaders at the start of the Ukrainian war was yet another manifestation of London’s adroitness in playing a crucial but discreet role in the alleys of international affairs.

Occasionally, one sets one’s eyes on an exceptional military history book whose breath is matched by the quality of its writing. A Quiet Company of Dangerous Men is a brilliant and engaging read—a top-shelf page-turner.

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Shannon Monaghan, A Company of Dangerous Men: The Forgotten British Special Operations Soldiers of World War II, New York, Viking, 2024, 400 pages.