In the winter of 1944, the Allies advanced northwards through Italy, but stalled on the fearsome mountainous defenses of the Gothic Line. David "The Mad Piper" Kilpatrick and small group of men were parachuted in, hoping to break the deadlock. Their mission: to penetrate deep into enemy territory and lay waste to the Germans' impregnable headquarters. As the mission began, high command radioed through an order to stand down, having assessed the chances of success at little more than zero. But as the author of SAS Ghost Patrol and The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare recounts, in defiance of orders, these soldiers were going in.