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Title: The Man Who Never Was: World War II's Boldest Counter-Intelligence Operation by Ewen Montagu ISBN: 1-55750-448-2 Publisher: United States Naval Inst. Pub. Date: March, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.43 (7 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: First hand account of a brilliant espionage campaign
Comment: Modern novellists would never have thought of this simple yet highly complicated plan to deceive the Germans during World War II. This book is written by Ewen Montagu who actually undertook the whole operation. Due to the fact of its high secrecy it could not first be revealed until the Mid-1950's when the first edition came out. Even then the full story could not be told for one of the other great secrets of WWII (the fact that the British had cracked the German code 'Engima') meant that the progress of the deception was monitored throughout its progress.
The deception was simple - dump a body with highly secret documents in a place where the Germans will be party to the find. Make it so convincing that they will take the bait. This was to mislead the Germans over the true place where the allies wanted to land (Sicily) so getting them to fortify another part of South Eastern Europe instead - the Dodecanese and Sardinia. It was a plan to save lives - as many allied lives as possible by reducing German resistance. And it worked - beautifully.
This book by Montagu gives us the absolute inside story with all the twists and turns to how the idea was conceived and how it was implemented. And for such a simple idea it was of course relatively complicated to implement. How to find an appropriately dead body to dump - where to dump it - how to make sure the Germans would find it without being suspicious of the material and so on. All very fascinating stuff and makes for a good, quick and easy read - it is very well-written and if nothing else is such an amazing story it is hard to put down.
This story is well publicised now - it has been the subject of at least one film and one documentary in the "Secrets of World War II" series, however it is nothing like information straight from the horses mouth to make you appreciate what it was all about.
My conclusion - Relatively short book but highly readable and very well worthwhile picking up even if your interest isn't in the arena of either War or World War II.
Rating: 5
Summary: Famous case
Comment: This case is very famous. I remember reading about it in a declassified article in a Swedish book meant to teach intelligence to students of journalism at Lund University.
Rating: 5
Summary: Great, and True, Espionage Story...
Comment: "The Man Who Never Was" is an interesting and true story of WWII espionage prior to the invasion of Sicily. I bought the book after seeing a History Channel episode of the topic, and I'm glad I did.
The story is best told by Ewen Montagu, the intelligence officer behind what is known as "Operation Mincemeat". His vantage point is ideal for telling this tale. His access to the how the operation developed, the people, side-stories, funny happenings, the actual letters, and all the other details could be no better provided by anyone else. What makes the story interesting for me is not only the details, but how Ewen was able to put himself in the shoes of the Germans, and through all the details, orchestrate a diversion of German forces from Sicily. The book also offers concrete details of the real effect of the operation obtained from German archives after the war. Such total first hand information is the making of a quality history book, and this is a first-class telling of an interesting operation. If you like WWII, spy stories, or history, then this a good read.
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Title:The Man Who Never Was ASIN: 6302078024 Publisher: Twentieth Century Fox Pub. Date: 27 June, 1991 List Price(USD): $19.98 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $19.98 |
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Title: Bodyguard of Lies: The Extraordinary True Story Behind D-Day by Anthony Cave Brown ISBN: 1585746924 Publisher: The Lyons Press Pub. Date: 01 October, 2002 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: The Double-Cross System: The Incredible True Story of How Nazi Spies Were Turned into Double Agents by J. C. Masterman ISBN: 1585741302 Publisher: The Lyons Press Pub. Date: 01 September, 2000 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Enigma: The Battle for the Code by Hugh Sebag-Montefiore ISBN: 0471407380 Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Pub. Date: 05 January, 2001 List Price(USD): $30.00 |
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Title: For the President's Eyes Only : Secret Intelligence and the American Presidency from Washington to Bush by Christopher Andrew ISBN: 0060921781 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 10 April, 1996 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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