During the Second World War, the soldiers of Hitler and Mussolini in North Africa and Italy were terrified by an unusual unit: appearing out of nowhere, dashing guys fired at the enemy from a dozen positions simultaneously, burned warehouses and airfields, and forced entire garrisons to capitulate. This is how the fighters acted under the command of the second-generation Russian emigrant Vladimir “Popski” Penyakov, who put together his own battalion under the wing of the British armed forces to sow fear and despondency behind enemy lines. Published for the first time in Russian, Penyakov’s memoirs “Popski’s Private Army” is a cold-blooded story written by an adventurer and a gentleman, where friendship with the Senussi Arabs, grueling journeys through the desert and mountains, mockery of the stupidity of the army command, valor and mortal danger become components of one of the most amazing stories of World War II.