Operation MincemeatOperation Mincemeat
How a Dead Man and a Bizarre Plan Fooled the Nazi and Assured An Allied Victory
Title rated 3.85 out of 5 stars, based on 140 ratings(140 ratings)
Book, 2010
Current format, Book, 2010, 1st ed., Available .Book, 2010
Current format, Book, 2010, 1st ed., Available . Offered in 0 more formatsBen Macintyre’s Agent Zigzag was hailed as “rollicking, spellbinding” (New York Times), “wildly improbable but entirely true” (Entertainment Weekly), and, quite simply, “the best book ever written” (Boston Globe). In his new book, Operation Mincemeat, he tells an extraordinary story that will delight his legions of fans.
In 1943, from a windowless basement office in London, two brilliant intelligence officers conceived a plan that was both simple and complicated— Operation Mincemeat. The purpose? To deceive the Nazis into thinking that Allied forces were planning to attack southern Europe by way of Greece or Sardinia, rather than Sicily, as the Nazis had assumed, and the Allies ultimately chose.
Charles Cholmondeley of MI5 and the British naval intelligence officer Ewen Montagu could not have been more different. Cholmondeley was a dreamer seeking adventure. Montagu was an aristocratic, detail-oriented barrister. But together they were the perfect team and created an ingenious plan: Get a corpse, equip it with secret (but false and misleading) papers concerning the invasion, then drop it off the coast of Spain where German spies would, they hoped, take the bait. The idea was approved by British intelligence officials, including Ian Fleming (creator of James Bond). Winston Churchill believed it might ring true to the Axis and help bring victory to the Allies.
Filled with spies, double agents, rogues, fearless heroes, and one very important corpse, the story of Operation Mincemeat reads like an international thriller.
Unveiling never-before-released material, Ben Macintyre brings the reader right into the minds of intelligence officers, their moles and spies, and the German Abwehr agents who suffered the “twin frailties of wishfulness and yesmanship.” He weaves together the eccentric personalities of Cholmondeley and Montagu and their near-impossible feats into a riveting adventure that not only saved thousands of lives but paved the way for a pivotal battle in Sicily and, ultimately, Allied success in the war.
In 1943 a body washed ashore off the coast of Spain carrying falsified intelligence documents designed to convince the Germans that Allied forces planned to invade Greece and Sardinia rather than Sicily. The successful execution of this clever ruse, code named "Operation Mincemeat," is the subject of this entertaining nonfiction spy thriller. Macintyre, a British author and writer for the London Times, used recently declassified military documents as well as top secret materials kept by the family of Ewen Montagu, the British intelligence officer who along with his colleague Charles Cholmondeley concocted the plan, to construct a compelling narrative. Readers interested in World War II history or military intelligence, and fans of spy novels will appreciate this volume. A section of black and white photographs and an appendix containing photocopied documents is included. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
From the acclaimed author of "Agent Zigzag" comes an extraordinary account of the most successful deception--and certainly the strangest--ever carried out in World War II, one that changed the prospects for an Allied victory. The purpose of the plan--code named Operation Mincemeat--was to deceive the Nazis into thinking that Allied forces were planning to attack southern Europe by way of Greece or Sardinia, rather than Sicily, as the Nazis had assumed, and the Allies ultimately chose.
Chronicles World War II's pivotal deception by two British naval officers who successfully fed false intelligence to the Nazis about where Allied forces were planning an attack in southern Europe. By the author of Agent Zigzag.
Chronicles World War II's pivotal deception by two British naval officers who successfully fed false intelligence to the Nazis about where Allied forces were planning an attack in southern Europe.
In 1943, from a windowless basement office in London, two brilliant intelligence officers conceived a plan that was both simple and complicated— Operation Mincemeat. The purpose? To deceive the Nazis into thinking that Allied forces were planning to attack southern Europe by way of Greece or Sardinia, rather than Sicily, as the Nazis had assumed, and the Allies ultimately chose.
Charles Cholmondeley of MI5 and the British naval intelligence officer Ewen Montagu could not have been more different. Cholmondeley was a dreamer seeking adventure. Montagu was an aristocratic, detail-oriented barrister. But together they were the perfect team and created an ingenious plan: Get a corpse, equip it with secret (but false and misleading) papers concerning the invasion, then drop it off the coast of Spain where German spies would, they hoped, take the bait. The idea was approved by British intelligence officials, including Ian Fleming (creator of James Bond). Winston Churchill believed it might ring true to the Axis and help bring victory to the Allies.
Filled with spies, double agents, rogues, fearless heroes, and one very important corpse, the story of Operation Mincemeat reads like an international thriller.
Unveiling never-before-released material, Ben Macintyre brings the reader right into the minds of intelligence officers, their moles and spies, and the German Abwehr agents who suffered the “twin frailties of wishfulness and yesmanship.” He weaves together the eccentric personalities of Cholmondeley and Montagu and their near-impossible feats into a riveting adventure that not only saved thousands of lives but paved the way for a pivotal battle in Sicily and, ultimately, Allied success in the war.
In 1943 a body washed ashore off the coast of Spain carrying falsified intelligence documents designed to convince the Germans that Allied forces planned to invade Greece and Sardinia rather than Sicily. The successful execution of this clever ruse, code named "Operation Mincemeat," is the subject of this entertaining nonfiction spy thriller. Macintyre, a British author and writer for the London Times, used recently declassified military documents as well as top secret materials kept by the family of Ewen Montagu, the British intelligence officer who along with his colleague Charles Cholmondeley concocted the plan, to construct a compelling narrative. Readers interested in World War II history or military intelligence, and fans of spy novels will appreciate this volume. A section of black and white photographs and an appendix containing photocopied documents is included. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
From the acclaimed author of "Agent Zigzag" comes an extraordinary account of the most successful deception--and certainly the strangest--ever carried out in World War II, one that changed the prospects for an Allied victory. The purpose of the plan--code named Operation Mincemeat--was to deceive the Nazis into thinking that Allied forces were planning to attack southern Europe by way of Greece or Sardinia, rather than Sicily, as the Nazis had assumed, and the Allies ultimately chose.
Chronicles World War II's pivotal deception by two British naval officers who successfully fed false intelligence to the Nazis about where Allied forces were planning an attack in southern Europe. By the author of Agent Zigzag.
Chronicles World War II's pivotal deception by two British naval officers who successfully fed false intelligence to the Nazis about where Allied forces were planning an attack in southern Europe.
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- New York : Harmony Books c2010.
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