This memoir investigates the operational effectiveness and unconventional tactics of the British Army's smallest specialized unit during the North African and Italian campaigns of World War II. Vladimir Peniakoff, a Belgian-born British officer, details his transition from a civilian engineer to the commander of the Long Range Desert Group's offshoot, known as Popski's Private Army. The text serves as a primary source account of how small, highly mobile forces utilized intelligence and sabotage to disrupt Axis supply lines and logistics.

Historians and military enthusiasts frequently cite this work as a foundational account of special operations during the Second World War. Readers often note the candid and unvarnished prose style that characterizes Peniakoff's reflection on his wartime command.