Maj Gen OP Sabharwal comes from a family that has produced four generations of soldiers for the Indian Army over a period of 100 years. He himself was commissioned in 1/3 Gurkha Rifles of the Indian Army in June 1955, and later volunteered for the Parachute Regiment.

The book under review is about those elite troops for whom nothing is impossible. A special breed of soldiers who walk dangerously and believe that "who dares, wins". Real-life heroes who plunge into situations are normally confined to celluloid. It is these men who form the cutting edge of real-life war games. Men whom Winston Churchill once described as "mad, quite mad.. (but) in war there is often a place for mad people who bring glory at all cost."

This action-packed book tells the story of special forces worldwide and examines these forces. How are they organised, trained and equipped? What are the tasks they carry out in combat? How do they operate in the battlefield? What is their role in countering terrorism? What will be their role in the context of future warfare?

Tracing the history of raids and rescue missions from the raid on SomnathTemple by Mahmud of Ghazni in 1025 to those of Shivaji on the Mughals in 1663, it goes on to describe the rescue of Mussolini from Italy and Israeli hostages from Entebbe Airport. Detailed descriptions and analysis of the second world war raids as well as Indian Army commando action against terrorists in Jammu& Kashmir right up to August 1999, demonstrate the daring of the men who constitute the special forces today. With these modern-day Onto Skorzenys and David Stirlings at large, no citadel is secure enough, no army safe from penetration.

Terrorism looms large as a major threat today to free societies of the world. It is a cheaper method of waging a war. The only way the world can cope effectively with this threat is by co-operating internationally against it.

Illustrated throughout, The Killer Instinct is a highly readable account of past raids and rescues, terrorism and the face of war in the new millennium.