The Phantom Major.

THE PHANTOM MAJOR. Virginia Cowles. 1958/ 2001. Read by Robert Whitfield. 6-1.5 hour tapes. Blackstone Audio Books. #2922. 0-7861-2148-3. $44.95. Vinyl; content, author notes. JSA 

This fast-moving, action-packed story of the daredevil exploits of the British SAS (Strategic Air Service) is reminiscent of The A-Team television series. This is fact, however. Whitfield's British accent provides a military crispness and adds an air of realism. He also manages a believable Scottish burr. The first 15 minutes of the first cassette should capture any listener's attention.

Armchair warriors will be caught up in the action as they visualize the burning planes, hear the exploding ammunition dumps, and smell the pungent fumes of blazing gasoline. In 1941, Great Britain found itself facing Hitler's apparently invincible juggernaut. While the Battle for Britain raged in the skies above the home islands, Rommel's Afrika Corps was driving across North Africa threatening Egypt and the Suez Canal. The British desperately struggled to slow the enemy's advance. They found it in a bold young army officer, Lieutenant David Stifling, who believed that small bands of highly trained raiders could get hundreds of miles deep into enemy territory and wreak havoc on their supply depots, airfields and other important military targets. He convinced the British high command and organized the SAS. His desert raiders ran roughshod over the Germans for 15 months until his capture

This popular history deals with a segment of the war frequently overshadowed by later events in Europe and in the Pacific. It will open the door to Tobruk, Benghazi, El Alamein, and other notable aspects of the desert war.

Prof. John E. Boyd, Jenkintown, PA