A journalist with unique access tells the never-before-told, inside story of America's elite troops in action - from the nadir of their reputation after Vietnam to their preeminence today on the frontlines against terrorism around the world.Special Forces soldiers are daring, seasoned warriors from America's heartland, selected in a tough competition and trained in an extraordinary range of skills. In Masters of Chaos Linda Robinson tells their story through a select group of senior sergeants and field-grade officers, a band of unforgettable characters like Rawhide, Killer, Michael T, and Alan - led by the unflappable Lt. Col. Chris Conner and Col. Charlie Cleveland, a brilliant but self-effacing West Pointer who waged the largest unconventional war campaign since Vietnam in northern Iraq.Robinson follows the Special Forces from their first post-Vietnam combat in Panama, El Salvador, Desert Storm, Somalia, and the Balkans, to their recent trials and triumphs in Afghanistan and Iraq. She witnessed their secret sleuthing and unsung successes in southern Iraq, and recounts here for the first time the dramatic firefights of the western desert. Her blow-by-blow story of the attack on Ansar al-Islam's international terrorist training camp has never been told before.The most comprehensive account ever of the modern-day Special Forces in action, Masters of Chaos is filled with intimate detail in the words of a close-knit band of soldiers who have done it all. Read Less