Three thousand years ago a small band of heroes crept in darkness out of the Trojan Horse to bring down a kingdom. Today such special warriors rappel from silenced helicopters or emerge out of submarines. From earliest times, the men who conduct these extreme missions have lived, and died, at the bloody intersection of destiny, legend, and high imagination. From the Bible to Baghdad, special operations have surprised and destroyed opponents who would seem to be infinitely stronger. To understand these missions is to know not only the fiercest mode of warfare but the tipping points of civilizations. In "To Dare and To Conquer," Derek Leebaert reveals the colossal impact that the commando has had at key junctures of history, and the vivid talents that have made these upheavals possible. We encounter Alexander's midnight assault on the ancient worlds' most impregnable fortress, crusading freebooters on the edge of Christendom, the buccaneering exploits of imperial expansion, Confederate saboteurs and hijackers, World War II's ghostly infiltrators and pivotal assassinations, twenty-first-century covert units with undreamed-of technological assets hunting equally stealthy enemies across the globe. Leebaert constructs a brilliant theory that the stronger a nation, the weaker it may become-its vulnerabilities always apparent to smaller antagonists. It is a never-ending, deadly dynamic that is also shaping our future. A groundbreaking exploration of war, politics, and power, "To Dare and To Conquer" examines for the first time the terrifyingly decisive moments of history through the eyes of the commando, charting the subtle paths to victory, and warning of the ever-present specter of defeat-in past centuries as in our post-9/11 world.

Includes maps of: Center of the Greek World at the Time of the Peloponnesian War, 431-404 B.C.; Alexander the Great, 336-322 B.C.; Principal Routes of the First Crusade, and Surrounding Hot Points; Cortes' Route from the Coast to Tenochtitlan, Heart of Empire; Huntingh Grounds of Captains Drake and Morgan on the Isthmus of Panama; Arnold's Invasion of Canada and the Response, September 1775-October 1776; Bonaparte's Europe - Battles, Special Ops, and Guerrilla Warfare; Andrews Raid - Twenty Hijackers in Georgia; German-made Jihad, 1914-1918; Rescuing a Dictator - Skorzeny's Glider Path from Rome to Gran Sasso, September 12, 1943; First Retaliation - Northern Afghanistan, 2001.

1Who Dares Wins: Special Operations, Special Forces, Special Targets -- 17 -- 2 Even Troy Must Fall: Hidden Ways, from the Wooden Horse to the Rise of Macedon, ca. 1200 to ca. 400 B.C. -- 40 -- 3 Birth of World Power: A Longer Reach, from Alexander to the Barbarian Invasions of Rome, ca. 356 B.C. to Fifth Century A.D. -- 65 -- 4 A Terrible Few: Cracks in the Edifice, from the Fall of Rome to the Fading of the Feudal Order, 476-1300 -- 97 -- 5 Great Wheel Turns: When Nothing Else Works in a Time of Gunpowder, Learning, and Engineering, 1300-1500 -- 129 -- 6 War of the Worlds: Where Only a Few Could Go: Aztecs and Incas Meet the Conquistadors, 1500-1600 -- 147 -- 7 No Peace Beyond the Line: Naval Special Warfare: Pirates, Buccaneers, and the Imperialists They Preyed On, 1522-1689 -- 184 -- 8 A Hazard of New Fortunes: Specialization and Enterprise: Europe from the Westward Discovery to the Zenith of the Sun King, 1492-1701 -- 213 -- 9 Old World and the New: Point of the Lance in Europe, India, and North America, 1700-1775 -- 235 -- 10 To Try Men's Souls: A Continent to Make and Few to Do It: The American Revolution and Its Enemies, 1775-1807 -- 273 -- 11 Fate of Glory: Special Operations in the Biggest War Yet: The French Revolution and Its Aftermaths, 1789-1830 -- 308 -- 12 New Frontiers: Where Special Talents Apply: National Revolt and Global Ambition, 1830-1861 -- 339 -- 13 Strange Fulfillments: Newer Tasks for the Daring Few as Steam and Machinery Transform the Struggle, 1861-1902 -- 358 -- 14 From Spark to Flame: Alternative Means: Kitty Hawk to the End of All Wars, 1903-1918 -- 385 -- 15 Sinister Twilight: Dangerous Young Men: The Unreal Peace, 1919-1939 -- 419 -- 16 So Far, the Main Event: Anything Goes: The Stakes of Totalitarian Conquest, 1939-1945 -- 442 -- 17 Dawn Like Thunder: Here to Stay: New Strengths, New Dangers, 1945-1961 -- 498 -- 18 Invasion from the Future: From Both Sides Now, 1961-2010 -- 532.