In2017, reports emerged that Britain's Special Air Service, the country's mostcelebrated regiment, was being investigated over allegations its soldiers had executedscores of captives in Afghanistan. These unprecedented accusations led to adamning shift in perceptions of the armed forces, with soldiers widelycastigated as war criminals. But these reports misrepresented the reality ofthe operations. Blades lifts the lid on events in Afghanistan, detailing the heroicefforts of the Special Forces in the country for the first time and revealing howgovernment-imposed restrictions meant the enemy's bombmakers could not legally beshot or detained. Failed by their government and their generals, soldiers facedan agonising dilemma: obey the rules and let their colleagues be killed orenact frontier justice and face accusations of war crimes. Theseevents would trigger Operation Northmoor, the biggest and most sensitive UK militarypolice investigation ever undertaken. Along the way, detectives faced a wall ofsilence and collusion by senior officers, with vital evidence being destroyed. Drawingon thorough research; exclusive interviews with SAS soldiers, officers, servicechiefs and senior diplomats; and decades of experience as the Daily Mail'sdefence and diplomacy editor, Mark Nicol offers a nuanced analysis and a vitalcorrective to false reporting on Afghanistan. Ultimately, Blades is anunflinching account of profound heroism in the face of state interference and along-overdue defence of those who proudly protected their country.