IAN FLEMING'S COMMANDOS: The Story of the Legendary 30 Assault Unit

RANKIN, Nicholas

ISBN 10: 0199782822 / ISBN 13: 9780199782826

Published by Oxford University Press, New York , New York, 2011

About this Item

Light purple paper- wrapped boards withSilver print on on blue spine. Slight crush at top corner of front cover.Tight, sound and unmarked. 397pages including inde. Dust Jacket in mylar and not price- cliipped, ($29.95 in SKU on rear cover).

Seller Inventory # 016883

Bibliographic Details

• Title: IAN FLEMING'S COMMANDOS: The Story of the Legendary 30 Assault Unit
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, New York , New York
• Publication Date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0199782822
• ISBN 13: 9780199782826
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Photo - Illustrated
• Edition: First American Edition
• Condition: Near Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine

About this title

Synopsis

In 1941, the United Kingdom faced its darkest hour: it stood alone against the Germans, who had chased British forces out of France, Norway, and Greece. All it had left were desperate measures--commando raids, intelligence coups, feats of derring-do. Any such "novel enterprise," wrote Admiral John Godfrey, Director of Naval Intelligence, required "an officer with drive and imagination of the highest order." He found one in Commander Ian Fleming.

In Ian Fleming's Commandos, Nicholas Rankin tells the exciting story of a secret intelligence outfit conceived and organized by Fleming. Named 30 Assault Unit, the group was expected to seize enemy codebooks, cipher machines, and documents in high-stakes operations. Assault unit commandos fought in the North African campaign and the invasions of Sicily and Italy, poked over the bones of bombed Pantelleria, and liberated Capri. Rebranded '30 Assault Unit', they went ashore on D-Day, heading for rocket-sites and radar-stations. They helped liberate Paris (including the Ritz Bar and the Rothschild mansion) and then set out to steal scientific and industrial secrets from the heart of Germany. Their final amazing coup was to seize the entire archives of the German Navy's three hundred tons of documents. Ian Fleming flew out in person to accompany the loot back to Britain, where it was combed for evidence to use in the Nuremburg trials.

Based on incisive research and written with verve and insight, this new paperback edition ofIan Fleming's Commandos brings to life a long-obscured chapter of World War II and reveals the inspiration behind Fleming's famous fiction.

About the Author

Nicholas Rankin is the author of A Genius for Deception andTelegram from Guernica. He lives in London.