An Axe and
Four Balloons

The Biography of Brian Franks DSO MC, the Man Who Saved The SAS

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5 Stars

Tim Spicer has an amazing superpower among authors of discovering fascinating and vitally important figures whom history has somehow ignored or sidelined, and to bring them alive with vividness and immediacy.

— Andrew Roberts
5 Stars

Gripping, intensively researched and a fitting tribute to one of the founders of Special Forces soldiering. A fabulous read about an inspirational commander of the wartime SAS.

— Damien Lewis
5 Stars

In the course of this well-researched, grippingly written and terrific story, he also – almost as a sidebar – provides profound insights into the theory, nature and practice of courage under fire, something he knows a good deal about from personal experience.

— Andrew Roberts

About The
Author

A Life of Service, Strategy, and Survival

Lieutenant Colonel Tim Spicer OBE has led a life filled with action and adventure. During his twenty years in the British Army, he saw active service in Northern Ireland, the Falklands campaign, the Gulf War and the Balkans, as well as serving in the Far East, Cyprus and Germany.

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Tim Spicer

Books

1999

An Unorthodox Soldier

An Unorthodox Soldier is Tim Spicer’s fast-paced memoir, detailing his military career, encounters with warfare, and controversial role in the Sandline Affair.

2021

A Dangerous Enterprise

A Dangerous Enterprise reveals the covert operations of the 15th Motor Gunboat Flotilla, a top-secret WWII unit conducting high-risk missions for British intelligence.

2024

A Suspicion of Spies

A Suspicion of Spies uncovers the life of Wilfred ‘Biffy’ Dunderdale, a suave MI6 spymaster whose adventures from the Russian Revolution to the Cold War likely inspired James Bond.

2026

An Axe and Four Balloons

The biography of Brian Franks DSO MC, the man who saved the SAS.