Featuring the work of twenty one talented artists from across the UK, this collection of rap, songs and poems explores current themes and addresses questions raised from day to day life. Free from bad language and attitude, this is one of those books that can leave you in tears or laughter as the passionate words reach across the page. It is a book born of struggle and perseverance, from authors who know the highs and lows of street life. From slavery to heritage; from dreams to family, `Lyrically Justified' has been heralded as the UK's `Streetwise Bible'. "Heroes of their communities, with positivity in common, these poets deserve to say their piece. They champion causes, not for domination, but for resolution. Urban artists, they search for truth in light of wisdom and creativity."

Ultimate soldier. Ultimate mission. But will the SAS be able to outfox the IRA as they prepare a deadly reprisal? May 1987: a successful SAS ambush results in the deaths of eight IRA terrorists in Loughgall. Knowing that retaliation is certain, and that Gibraltar has been selected by the IRA as a 'soft' target associated with British imperialism, British intelligence goes on the alert. Then two IRA members arrive in southern Spain under false names, and an Irishwoman, also using a false identity, visits the changing of the guard ceremony outside the Governor of Gibraltar's residence. Intelligence believes the ceremony is likely to be attacked, and the British government sends in the SAS. Tasked with preventing the bombing, if necessary by killing the terrorists, the SAS team will need to call into play all their expertise and tenacity in what will become a deadly game of cat-and-mouse.

Ultimate soldier. Ultimate mission. But will the SAS succeed in freeing Oman from the deadly grip of fanatical guerrillas? In the arid deserts and mountains of Arabia a 'secret' war is being fought. While Communist-backed Adoo guerrillas have been waging a campaign of terror against Oman, British Army Training Teams have been winning hearts and minds with medical aid and educational programmes. Now the time has come to rid the country of the guerrillas, not only to free Oman, but also to guarantee the safe passage of Arabian oil to the West. Only one group of men is capable of doing this job, and on the night of October 1, 1971, two squadrons of SAS troopers, backed by the Sultan's Armed Forces and fierce, unpredictable Firqat Arab fighters, start to clear the fanatical Adoo from the sun-scorched summit of the mighty Jebel Dhofar. In doing so, the men of the SAS embark on one of their most daring and unforgettable adventures.

Ultimate soldier. Ultimate mission. But can the SAS assault team rescue the hostages from the terrorist-held Iranian embassy? 30 April 1980: six well-armed terrorists seize the Iranian Embassy in London. Nineteen Iranian nationals and four British citizens are captured. Subsequent negotiations see some hostages released, but when, on the fifth day of the siege, one of the hostages is shot dead, his body dumped outside, the time for negotiation is over. It is time to end the siege, and the only men with enough skill and daring for this dangerous task are the legendary SAS! In fact, convinced they will eventually be called in, they have already practiced a high-risk rescue operation in their top secret 'Killing House'. On the evening of 5 May - and in the full glare of the international media - twelve SAS soldiers, dressed in black and wielding a deadly arsenal, make their courageous assault on the Embassy...

Ultimate soldier. Ultimate mission. But will the SAS survive the inferno of Operation Desert Storm? August 1990, and Iraqi tanks are rolling into Kuwait, putting one quarter of the world's oil reserves at risk. So begins Operation Desert Storm. As specialists in desert warfare, the legendary SAS are plunged into a maelstrom of covert operations, often deep inside enemy territory. Their mission: reconnaissance, espionage, sabotage, the capture of prisoners and rescue of hostages. Some are captured and tortured; others executed. But by the end of the conflict they will perform feats that are the stuff of legend. Join the adventure in this novel about the most daring soldiers in military history: the SAS!

Ultimate soldier. Ultimate mission. But can the SAS face the might of Rommel's army and win? In the North African desert in 1941 the war is being won by the brilliant German commander General Rommel, and the British are in retreat on all fronts. A young British army lieutenant, David Stirling, believes that the only way to reverse this situation is to attack the enemy behind their own lines, using small groups of men who can insert by land, sea or air as required. The first of these men are dropped by parachute to attack enemy airfields in the Gazala area, but the raid is a disaster, with many lives lost. The following year, the survivors of that operation, now working hand in hand with the Long Range Desert Group, mount a series of spectacular raids in heavily armed jeeps against airfields in the Benghazi region, destroying nearly a hundred enemy aircraft, leaving the German army reeling, and reversing the course of the war. Desert Raiders is the colourful story of the birth of the SAS, the most renowned regiment in the history of the British Army - forged with fire and steel in the vast, sun-scorched plains of the North African desert, pitting themselves against the might of the formerly invincible German army, and gaining a reputation that will make them a legend in their own time.

Ultimate soldier. Ultimate mission. But can the SAS survive working deep undercover among the terrorists of Northern Ireland? It is the 1970s, and a mean and dirty war is being waged on British soil. Sectarian violence is an almost daily occurrence and the terrorist groups, who finance their operations through robbery, fraud and extortion, engage in torture, assassination and wholesale slaughter. To cope with the terrorists' activities the British Army need the support of exceptional soldiers who can operate deep undercover - the SAS. The regiment is soon embroiled in some of the most secretive, dangerous and controversial activities in its history. These include plain-clothes work in the towns and cities, the running of operational posts in rural areas, surveillance and intelligence gathering, ambushes and daring cross-border raids. Sniper Fire in Belfast is a nerve-jangling adventure about the most daring soldiers in military history, where friend and foe look the same and each encounter could be their last.

Cultural and racial diversity remain essential to this riveting urban poetry collection, which features some of the best UK emerging talent from over 41 contributors. Join with the poets as they write about the many issues facing humanity, challenging social injustice whilst provoking action. The book is an inspiration for change and an encouragement of creativity.

Ultimate soldier. Ultimate mission. But will the SAS survive a nightmare journey into the tunnel lair of the Viet Cong? June 1966: 3 Squadron SAS (Australian Special Air Service) set up a Forward Operating Base in Vietnam's Phuoc Tuy province, a swampy hell of jungle and paddy-fields forty-five miles east of Saigon in the heart of enemy territory. The Viet Cong have bases throughout the jungle, and the Australians soon find themselves under constant attack. Enter three members of the legendary 22 SAS, to assist in a major assault against the Viet Cong: Sergeant Jimmy 'Jimbo' Ashman, founding member of the Regiment; Sergeant Richard 'Dead-eye Dick' Parker, veteran of previous SAS operations in Malaya, Borneo and Aden; and Lieutenant-Colonel Patrick 'Paddy' Callaghan, pulled out of administration specially for this secret mission. Working under appalling conditions, Brits and Aussies must try to forge themselves into a potent fighting machine, as they have been tasked with the fearsome job of rooting the Viet Cong out of their labyrinthine tunnel system. It will be a journey into hell, and some will never return.

Ultimate soldier. Ultimate mission. But will the SAS patrol escape the deadly Malayan jungle alive? Malaya in the 1950s, and Communist terrorists wage a bloody war against the country's estates and rubber plantation owners. Chased into the interior by British Army units, the guerrillas soon became experts at survival and evasion, emerging from the jungle only to launch increasingly ferocious attacks. On the recommendation of Lieutenant-Colonel 'Mad' Mike Calvert, veteran of Burma's Chindit campaigns, 22 SAS is formed as a special counter-insurgency force. Three years later they begin their jungle patrols, learning how to survive for weeks at a time in hostile terrain, often waist-deep in water, and under attack from wild animals, leeches and poisonous insects. This extraordinary campaign climaxes in a nightmarish two weeks in the Telok Anson swamp tracking the troops of the notorious 'Baby Killer', Ah Hoi. What the regiment experiences in the Malayan jungle is both dreadful and unforgettable and will lay the foundations for the SAS's legendary survival skills...

Ultimate soldier. Ultimate mission. But can the SAS prevent British Task Force being destroyed by exocet missiles? It is 1982, and a brutal, bloody war is being waged as British forces try to battle the Argentinians into surrendering the Falkland Islands. As the fighting continues, it becomes clear to British Task Force commanders that they will need to call upon the help of the legendary Special Air Service - the SAS! Their mission, which must be shrouded in a veil of secrecy, is to infiltrate enemy territory by land and sea and from the air, performing tasks too dangerous for the average soldier. Surviving hunger, freezing cold and constant danger, they must gather vital intelligence, engage in espionage, disrupt enemy communications and, when necessary, engage and kill the enemy. A tall enough order for an army; when it's just a small unit of men, this may prove to be a one-way mission...

Ultimate soldier. Ultimate mission. But can the SAS recruit primitive natives to help them thwart an invading rebel force? 1963: Viewing the formation of a new political entity, the Federation of Malaysia, as a threat to his dreams of expansion, Indonesian President Sukarno orders insurgents into Borneo. In response, the British organize a force of Malay, British and Commonwealth troops to contain the rebels. What is desperately needed, however, is a specialist group who can perform highly dangerous and arduous military tasks in the inhospitable, perilous terrain. Braving jungle and swamp, the SAS are dispatched to live with the primitive, headhunting natives, to try to win hearts and minds with medical aid and assistance, in the hope of recruiting them as Border Scout paramilitaries. As the training progresses, other SAS soldiers move even deeper into the unexplored jungle - 'the Gap' - to establish ambush sites and helicopter LZs. These 'Tiptoe Boys' conduct daring 'Claret' raids across the border, hitting hard and vanishing fast, ambushing enemy troops moving along the many jungle tracks and rivers. It will be a bloody, nightmarish war - and the SAS must win it.

Ultimate soldier. Ultimate mission. But can the SAS distract the Nazis to allow airborne landings to go ahead? September 1944: in the wake of the successful 'Anvil' landings, the Allies plan airborne landings in the Orleans Gap. To 'soften' the enemy beforehand, they decide to drop a squadron of men and jeeps in Central France, to hit enemy positions to distract attention from the landings taking place elsewhere Operation Kipling begins when 46 jeeps and 107 well-armed SAS men from C Squadron are parachuted in with orders to establish a base and contact the Maquis - Frenchmen living in makeshift forest camps, conducting sabotage missions behind enemy lines. Even as they are setting up camp, the airborne landings are cancelled and the SAS ordered to conduct 'aggressive' patrolling. Over the coming weeks, C Squadron must carry out a succession of high risk night raids against the Germans, racing into occupied towns in jeeps, firing on the move, and racing out again: to continually harass the enemy and inflict heavy casualties. Or die trying.

Ultimate soldier. Ultimate mission. But will the SAS be able to rid Yemen of its unstoppable guerrillas? Aden, 1964, and the British are waging two different kinds of war. Inhabitants of northern Yemen's forbidding mountainous region of Radfan are conducting guerrilla attacks against the British. Armed by the Egyptians and trained by the communist Yemenis, they seem an invincible fighting force. With only one hope of beating them, the British draft in an even more tenacious group of soldiers - the SAS! Their mission: to parachute into enemy territory at night, establish concealed observation posts high in the mountains, and direct air strikes on the rebels moving through the sun-baked passes. At the same time, in an even more dangerous campaign, two- or three-man SAS teams disguised as Arabs must infiltrate the souks and bazaars of the port of Aden in an attempt to 'neutralise' leading members of the National Liberation Front. But will their disguise allow them to get close enough to their targets, or get out again alive...?