Includes index

The Trojan horse -- The battle of Thermopylae -- Hannibal crosses the Alps -- The siege of Masada -- The battle of Roncesvalles -- The battle of Agincourt -- The siege of Tenochtitlán -- Pizarro's conquest of Peru -- The great siege of Malta -- Drake's raid on Cadiz -- The defeat of the Spanish armada -- The gunpowder plot -- The assassination of the Duke of Buckingham -- The capture of Beeston Castle -- The escape of Charles II -- Captain Morgan's raid on Panama -- The theft of the Crown Jewels -- The escape of Bonnie Prince Charlie -- The battle of Monongahela River -- The capture of HMS Serapis -- The burning of the White House -- The defense of Hougoumont -- The Alamo -- The charge of the Light Brigade -- The defense of Camarón -- The battle of Gettysburg -- Mapping the roof of the world -- The defense of Rorke's Drift -- The battle of Maiwand -- The siege of Khartoum -- The Jameson raid -- The Lynmouth-Porlock overland lifeboat rescue -- The siege of Ladysmith -- 55 days in Peking -- Shackleton's third Antarctic expedition -- The Irish hero of the Somme -- Escape of the Goeben and the Breslau -- Captain Pollard: "Fire-eater" -- The siege of Kut-al-Amara -- Pancho Villa's raid on the United States -- Black Tom sabotage operation -- The capture of Aqaba: Lawrence of Arabia -- The raids on Zeebrugge and Ostend -- The strange journey of Alvin C. York -- Agent ST-25 -- The evacuation of the Czechoslovak Legion -- The raid on Kronstadt -- Starting a World War: The raid on Gleiwitz radio station -- Special operation P: The sinking of the Royal Oak -- A bomb attempt on Hitler's life -- The boarding of the Altmark -- The capture of Fort Eben-Emael -- Operation Sealion and the battle of Britain -- The assassination of Trotsky -- Operation Claymore: the Lofoten Islands raid -- The German airborne invasion of Crete -- Pearl Harbor attack -- Human torpedo attack at Alexandria -- Australian companies in Timor -- Operation Biting -- Operation Chariot: The Saint-Nazaire raid -- Operation Anthropoid: the Heydrich assassination -- Operation Jubilee: the raid on Dieppe -- Operation Freshman: a glider-borne raid on Norway -- The sabotage of Gorgopotamos viaduct -- Operation Frankton: the "Cockleshell heroes" -- Operation Gunnerside: the heavy water raid, Norway -- Operation vengeance: the assassination of Yamamoto --

Operation Chastise: the "Dam Busters" raid -- Operation Tidal Wave: Bombing the Ploesti oil fields -- The rescue of Mussolini -- Operation Source: The midget submarine attack on Tirpitz -- Operations Jaywick and Rimau: sabotage raids in Singapore -- The "Wooden horse" POW escape -- Clandestine information-gathering for D-Day -- Operation Jericho: the raid on Amiens prison -- The kidnapping of General Kreipe -- Operation Deadstick: the airborne attacks on Normandy bridges -- Operation Gagg: the attempted assassination of Rommel -- The Cabanatuan POW rescue: the "great raid" -- Operation Tombola: raids behind the German lines in Italy --Operation CenterboardI: the Enola Gay story -- The Berlin airlift -- The battle of Imjin River -- The battle of Dien Bien Phu -- The mysterious death of "Buster" Crabb -- The U-2 incident: Gary Powers -- The siege of Khe Sanh -- Rescue from space: Apollo 13 -- Operation Kingpin: a raid on a POW camp -- Battle of Mirbat: the SAS in Iman -- The Munich Olympics: Black September -- Operation thunderbolt: The Israeli raid on Entebbe -- The attempted rescue of US hostages in Iran -- The Iranian Embassy siege, London -- The Pebble Island raid -- The sabotage of the Rainbow Warrior -- The Loughgall ambush -- Bravo two zero: Iraq -- Black Hawk down -- The 9/11 attacks -- The Kamchatka submarine rescue -- The rescue of Australian miners -- The rescue of Chilean miners -- Target: Osama Bin Laden -- The "Impossible odds" rescue, Somalia

From Ancient Greece to the hunt and killing of Bin Laden, here are 110 incredible acts of bravery, courage and derring-do that have in one fell
swoop changed the world