21/09/2026
The Express
Britain’s elite special forces had been stood down post-war when Brian Franks went into battle to save them. But, as his new biographer warns, rebuilding our special forces again in the face of insidious lawfare would be far harder
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17/09/2026
The Independent
The gentleman mercenary and warrior author Tim Spicer has written a thrilling tribute to one of WW2’s unknown warriors, Sam Kiley reviews ‘An Axe and Four Balloons’
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02/09/2026
Aspects of History
Lieutenant Colonel Brian Franks: Remarkable, Heroic but Largely Unknown
In his new biography, An Axe and Four Balloons, Tim Spicer introduces the man who saved the SAS
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28/08/2026
Country Life
Is this the most intriguing and consequential man you’ve never heard of?
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28/08/2026
BFBS Forces News
The saviour of the SAS: The man who once asked for an axe and four balloons
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26/08/2026
Get History
Following the Thread: The Road to 'An Axe and Four Balloons'. How one chance visit to a museum led me to three extraordinary stories, by Tim Spicer.
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05/07/2026
Military History Matters
In Brief. MHM’s round-up of the latest military history releases. An Axe and Four Balloons.
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24/01/2025
A Dangerous Enterprise: Secret War at Sea
This is ‘gung-ho’ and reads like a cloak and dagger spy thriller which, in a way, it is. The real Fleming and the fictitious James Bond both feature and so do many other fascinating characters from SOE, SIS, MI9, from the RN and the RNVR.
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20/09/2024
A Spiffy Tale of MI6 Legend “Biffy” Dunderdale
BOOK REVIEW: A Suspicion of Spies: Risks, Secrets and Shadows – the life of Wilfred ‘Biffy’ Dunderdale.
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