military

It is a treat to get history at this level seen through the eyes of the participants. Their daily lives, what their personalities and personal relationships were like, etc. There are many wartime narratives from the viewpoint of the average GI, or even the average top commander, but very few that bring to life how the staff that was actually planning and executing operations worked and lived, and what kind of people they were. Add to that the amount of new information this author has dug up about some of the most fascinating intelligence operations of World War Two--and some of the most fascinating and varied intelligence operatives, ranging from Douglas Fairbanks Jr. to F. Scott Fitzgerald's brother-in-law-- plus a very readable writing style, and you have a truly outstanding book.

This is a wonderful book for people who are seriously interested in military history and intelligence. Very very highly recommended for them. People who just want a quick read should stick to James Bond.

You certainly can't say that the title is midleading; it is all, too accurate. You'll learn very little about deception operations in WW II but you'll damn sure know where all these guys had lunch! While some of this is interesting, I suspect you'd find much the same type of thing about any bureaucracy. And, as you might expect, it's highly overwrought (and over-written) with three-letter abbreviations and obscure code words (even when they are superflouous)

Having plowed through this, I know little more about Allied deception operations in WW II than I did when I started (But I do know the various clubs that some of these folks hung out in.), which is what the title of the book implies it will be about -- Deception Operations.

Unless you like reading about the lives of dull people, I might suggest you pass this one by.

I am new at this and hope I am posting this review correctly. My wife gave me this book knowing that I am interested in military history and especially in intelligence. When I saw the ads on the back cover quoting people that said it reads like a novel and belongs on every WW2 bookshelf, I thought this was just the usual puffing, however, it is true. Holt tells the story of how the British and Americans fooled the Germans at D-day and on many other occasions with fake intelligence, telling it through the eyes of the participants, not only the allied officers (with great thumbnail character sketches of each of these) but sometimes the German intelligence agencies and spies and double agents themselves. A lot of the information is 100% new, I have never seen it reported anywhere else. Especially, his material about the work of the FBI, US military deception, the secret US outfit called Joint Security Control, etc.

It really does read like a novel, like a whole batch of thrillers rolled into one. Anybody interested in WW2 or in intelligence will "have a ball" with it.