Churchill's wizards: the British genius for deception 1914-1945

By June 1940, most of Europe had fallen to the Nazis and Britain stood alon e. To protect itself, the nation fell back on cunning and camouflage. With Winston Churchill in charge, the British bluffed their way out of trouble - lying, pretending and dressing up in order to survive. The British had dev eloped this uncommon talent during the trench and desert fighting of the Fi rst World War, when writers and artists created elaborate camouflages and f iendish propaganda. So successful were these deceptions they gave rise to t he German belief that they hadn't been beaten fairly - in which case why no t 'have a second go' By the Second World War, the British were masters of the art. Churchill adored stratagems, ingenious devices and special pretend German radio stations broadcast outrageous British propaganda in German. B ritish geniuses broke German secret codes and eavesdropped on their message s. Every German spy in Britain was captured and many were used to send back false information to their controllers. Forged documents misled their Inte lligence. Bogus wireless traffic from entire phantom armies, dummy airfield s with model planes, disguised ships and inflatable rubber tanks created a vital illusion of strength. Culminating in the spectacular misdirection tha t was so essential to the success of D-Day in 1944, Churchill's Wizards is a thrilling work of popular military history. Above all, Nicholas Rankin re veals the true stories of those brave and creative mavericks who helped win what Churchill called 'the war of the Unknown Warriors'.

Product Info

ISBN: 0571221955

ISBN-13: 9780571221950

Publisher: Faber and Faber

Year: 2008

Type: Used

Binding: Hardcover

Seller Info

InfinityBooksJapan

Address: 1F Komagata Heights Bldg Tokyo,

Website: https://www.infinitybooksjapan.com

Country: Japan