Highlighted by the prisoner-of-war escapes that earned them the name “The Houdini Club,” here is the elite combat odyssey of World War II’s “Darby’s Rangers” as never told before—drawing on previously unknown sources and retired Army Ranger Mir Bahmanyar’s exclusive, uncensored interviews with the greatest generation of Rangers themselves.

Spotlighting their legendary escapes from German World War II prisoner-of-war camps, so miraculous that this band of jailbreakers was dubbed “The Houdini Club,” military historian and retired Army Ranger Mir Bahmanyar delivers a thrilling, personality-driven account of the first United States Army Ranger battalion—from their rugged Ranger training to their battles in North Africa, France, Sicily, and mainland Italy, and (for some) finally back to American shores. Drawing upon unprecedented historical research, his own military-service expertise, and his exclusive interviews and personal correspondence with original Greatest Generation Army Rangers, Bahmanyar has crafted an uncensored work of military history in the tradition of The Longest Day, With the Old Breed, and Band of Brothers.

The Houdini Club captures the personal drama of World War II Special Forces warfare. The men of maverick Colonel William O. Darby’s Rangers had abundant tales of glory, yes, but also tales of misery, fear, and murderous intent. Then, there was the utter exhaustion contrasted by the thrill of combat, the devastating final battle that all but destroyed them, and the ingenuity and sheer determination that made the highly vaunted German Afrika Korps and veteran German Parachute and Panzer units marvel at their guerilla tactics and their prison breakouts.

Published to coincide with the 80th Anniversary of VE Day, The Houdini Club puts readers on the ground alongside the Rangers who made victory in Europe possible, portraying in gritty detail the lives and acts of one of the American military’s greatest collection of men.