At Close Quarters: SOE close combat pistol instructor Colonel Hector Grant-Taylor

The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was the paramount Allied sabotage force of the Second World War. Its job, in Churchill's words, was 'to set Europe ablaze' by means of sabotage, insurrection and assassination. One of SOE's great 'legends' was the close-combat pistol instructor Colonel Hector Grant-Taylor. Grant-Taylor trained commandos, secret agents and irregular soldiers in the art of killing face to face. The founding principles of his instruction were ruthlessness and stealth, and as one might expect from a man who pioneered such an art, Grant-Taylor's own life was a mystery worthy of a John Buchan thriller. Misinformation, deception, bravery, killing and ultimately redemption all played a part in his story. At Close Quarters presents a fascinating history of close quarter combat from before the First World War to the present day, paying tribute to the remarkable legacy of Colonel Hector Grant-Taylor. It finally puts to rest the myths that surround Grant-Taylor's extraordinary life, while, for the first time.