The Deceivers: Allied Military Deception in the Second World WarSimon and Schuster, 2010 M05 11 - 1168 pages In World War II, the Allies employed unprecedented methods and practiced the most successful military deception ever seen, meticulously feeding misinformation to Axis intelligence to lead Axis commanders into erroneous action. Thaddeus Holt's elegantly written and comprehensive book is the first to tell the full story behind these operations. Exactly how the Allies engaged in strategic deception has remained secret for decades. Now, with the help of newly declassified material, Holt reveals this secret to the world in a riveting work of historical scholarship. Once the Americans joined the war in 1941, they had much to learn from their British counterparts, who had been honing their deception skills for years. As the war progressed, the British took charge of misinformation efforts in the European theater, while the Americans focused on the Pacific. The Deceivers takes readers from the early British achievements in the Middle East and Europe at the beginning of the war to the massive Allied success of D-Day, American victory in the Pacific theater, and the war's culmination on the brink of an invasion of Japan. Colonel John Bevan, who managed British deception operations from London, described the three essentials to strategic deception as good plans, double agents, and codebreaking, and The Deceivers covers each of these aspects in minute detail. Holt brings to life the little-known men, British and American, who ran Allied deception, such as Bevan, Dudley Clarke, Peter Fleming, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., and Newman Smith. He tracks the development of deception techniques and tells the hitherto unknown story of double agent management and other deception through the American FBI and Joint Security Control. Full of fascinating sources and astounding revelations, The Deceivers is an indispensable volume and an unparalleled contribution to World War II literature. |
Contents
1 | |
9 | |
52 | |
The Customers | 99 |
Most Secret Sources and Special Means | 125 |
London Control | 166 |
The Turning of the Tide | 215 |
Enter the Yanks | 246 |
QUICKSILVER | 521 |
Mediterranean Finale | 592 |
Last Act in Europe | 629 |
Hustling the East III | 668 |
BLUEBIRD | 704 |
Last Round in Asia | 746 |
Epilogue | 779 |
Allied Deception Operations | 807 |
Hustling the East I | 289 |
The Soft Underbelly | 328 |
Hustling the East II | 395 |
American Deception Grows Up | 431 |
BODYGUARD | 477 |
Special Means Channels | 845 |
The Phantom Armies | 897 |
Maps | 935 |
Other editions - View all
The Deceivers: Allied Military Deception in the Second World War Thaddeus Holt No preview available - 2007 |
Common terms and phrases
12th Army Group Abwehr AFHQ Air Force Airborne Algiers Allied American April assault attaché attack August Axis Baumer Bevan Brigade British British II Corps Burma Cairo called Chiefs of Staff China Clarke's coast codenamed Colonel command Committee Corps cover plan D-Day deception plan Dennis Wheatley double agent Dudley Clarke dummy early Ekstrom Eldredge enemy England February Fleming FORTITUDE SOUTH France French FUSAG GARBO Germans Goldbranson headquarters implementation India Infantry Ingersoll insignia intelligence invasion Italian Italy January Japanese Joint Security Control July June landing Lisbon London Controlling Section major March Mediterranean messages Middle East military moved naval Navy Newman Smith North Africa notional November October offensive officer operation order of battle Pacific Pas-de-Calais Peter Fleming radio Real name sent September SHAEF special means story Strangeways strategic deception tactical deception theater threat tion told traffic troops Twenty Committee United Washington Wavell Wheatley Wingate
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