Operation Mincemeat: The True Spy Story that Changed the Course of World War II

By Ben Macintyre

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NOW A NETFLIX FILM STARRING COLIN FIRTH • The “brilliant and almost absurdly entertaining” (Malcolm Gladwell, The New Yorker) true story of the most successful—and certainly the strangest—deception carried out in World War II, from the acclaimed author of The Spy and the Traitor “Pure catnip to fans of World War II thrillers and a lot of fun for everyone else.”—Joseph Kanon, The Washington Post Book World Near the end of World War II, two British naval officers came up with a brilliant and slightly mad scheme to mislead the Nazi armies about where the Allies would attack southern Europe. To carry out the plan, they would have to rely on the most unlikely of secret agents: a dead man. Ben Macintyre’s dazzling, critically acclaimed bestseller chronicles the extraordinary story of what happened after British officials planted this dead body—outfitted in a British military uniform with a briefcase containing false intelligence documents—in Nazi territory, and how this secret mission fooled Hitler into changing military positioning, paving the way for the Allies’ drive to victory. NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES

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Published Apr 5, 2011

432 pages

Average rating: 7

15 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

Khris Sellin
10/10 stars
Brilliant!

I saw the musical Operation Mincemeat last month, and it was hilariously entertaining so I had to find out how much of it was actually true. This book really goes into detail of the history and all the interesting (and some whacky) characters who played a part in this extraordinary deception.
Nellita23
10/10 stars
I had read, The Man Who Never Was, years ago. A friend recommended this book.

Operation Mincemeat goes into much more detail. A deception like this would not be possible with all the advancements in forensics.

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