The Man Who Never Was / Operation Heartbreak: The Original Story of 'Operation Mincemeat' - Both Fact and Fiction - by the Men Who Were There - Softcover

E Montagu; Duff Cooper

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1862273642 ISBN 13: 9781862273641

Publisher: The History Press LTD, 2006

Synopsis

In the early hours of 30 April 1943, a corpse, wearing the uniform of an officer in the Royal Marines, was slipped into the waters off the south-west coast of Spain. With it was a briefcase, in which were papers detailing an imminent Allied invasion of Greece. As the British had anticipated, the supposedly neutral government of Fascist Spain turned the papers over to the Nazi High Command, who swallowed the story whole. It was perhaps the most decisive bluff of all time, for the Allies had no such plan: the purpose of ‘Operation Mincemeat’ was to blind the German High Command to their true objective – an attack on Southern Europe through Sicily. Though officially shrouded in secrecy, the operation soon became legendary (in part owing to Churchill’s post-war habit of telling the story at dinner). It gave rise to two very different books. In 1950 came Duff Cooper’s poignant novel Operation Heartbreak, a romantic tale, one which the government – right up to PM Clement Attlee – attempted to suppress. Its publication prompted the intelligence services to pressurize the operation’s mastermind, Ewen Montagu, into writing a factual account, The Man Who Never Was. Spellmount are proud to present these two accounts, fictional and factual, of one of the greatest intelligence operations ever undertaken, with an introduction by Duff Cooper’s son, John Julius Norwich.

About this title

Product Description:

2 Books in one, The man who never was. Ewen Montagu. In the early hrs of 30th April 1943, a corpse, wearing the uniform of an officer was slipped into the waters off the south-west coast of Spain. With it was a briefcase, in which there were paper's detailing an imminent Allied invasion of Greece. As the British had anticipated, the supposedly neutral government of Fascist Spain turned the papers over to the Nazi High Command. Operational Heartbreak. Duff Cooper. Is a romantic tale, one which the government attempted to suppress. Its publication prompted the intelligence services to pressurize the operations mastermind Ewen Montagu into writing a factual account.

About the Author:

During the Second World War, Ewen Montagu ran a highly secret sub-branch of the naval intelligence division at the Admiralty handling counter-espionage. He was present at the W board, the informal committee that ran the most secret intelligence war, and sat as the naval member of the XX committee which supervised the playing-back of captured Abwehr agents. At the end of the war he returned to law, becoming judge advocate of the fleet in 1945. In addition to The Man Who Never Was, he also published Beyond Top Secret U, a war autobiography explaining how much of his work had depended on the deciphering done at Bletchley Park

About this edition

• Publisher: The History Press LTD
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 1862273642
• ISBN 13: 9781862273641
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 240