First published on the 15th anniversary of the Falklands War of 1982, this work provides a secret history of the conflict, the first time the Royal Navy had been engaged by an enemy since 1945. In terms of hardware, it was a test of the world's latest air and defence systems and a unique opportunity to push competing fighters to their limits in an environment that stretched men and aircraft alike. 

This book focuses on "Operation Corporate", the task force assigned to retake the Falklands, and on the clandestine efforts to deny General Galtieri the one weapon that could have turned Corporate into a humiliating defeat for Britain - the French-manufactured Exocet missile.

HMS Sheffield, having been hit amidships by a single Exocet that failed to explode. The subsequent fire made the deck too hot to stand on and eventually destroyed the ship. The ship had been caught unawares because of a design fault, and the unexpected loss of this sophisticated guided-missile destroyer from an air-launched weapon made Whitehall re-evaluate he Task Force's entire strategy, and led to the risky ventures to deny the Junta further air-launched Exocets.