Books by John Parker

John Parker, a writer and journalist all his working life, has authored three dozen books and published more than 75 editions worldwide in his long career, including many acclaimed military and investigative projects, as well as numerous high-profile biographies. His interest in military and naval subjects, however, has consumed much of his working life in recent years, inspired not so much by the examination and recording of past events, vital though that is, but in seeking greater insight into the heroic efforts and sheer creative steadfastness of the lifeblood of any military activity: the men (and latterly women) and their machines. His books have been noted for their wealth of personal recollections of those at the sharp end of military activity and he has relied upon their testimony, gathered from either personal interviews or documentary and tape-recorded accounts recovered from regimental and national archives in Britain, Europe and America, acquiring in the process an outstanding personal record of human endeavour and inventiveness that has abounded, wherever and whenever the need became pressing. Of particular interest was the unprecedented access he was given on approval from the Ministry of Defence for his history of the security-conscious Special Boat Service, for which he as able to interview many former and existing members of that organization which famously combined the use of Special Forces and submarines during World War II and beyond. Other titles in his published list include The Silent Service: The Inside Story of the Royal Navy's Submarine Heroes; Royal Marines Commandos; Royal Navy Task Force; Royal Air Force Strike Command; The Black Watch; Desert Rats; The Paras; Inside the Foreign Legion; Total Surveillance; The Killing Factory: The Top Secret World of Germ and Chemical Warfare; and Death of A Hero: Captain Robert Nairac GC and the Undercover War in Northern Ireland.