Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare
The Mavericks Who Plotted Hitler's Defeat
Book - 2017
"Six gentlemen, one goal: the destruction of Hitler's war machine. In the spring of 1939, a top-secret organization was founded in London: its purpose was to plot the destruction of Hitler's war machine through spectacular acts of sabotage. The guerrilla campaign that followed was every bit as extraordinary as the six men who directed it. One of them, Cecil Clarke, was a maverick engineer who had spent the 1930s inventing futuristic caravans. Now, his talents were put to more devious use: he built the dirty bomb used to assassinate Hitler's favorite, Reinhard Heydrich. Another, William Fairbairn, was a portly pensioner with an unusual passion: he was the world's leading expert in silent killing, hired to train the guerrillas being parachuted behind enemy lines. Led by dapper Scotsman Colin Gubbins, these men--along with three others--formed a secret inner circle that, aided by a group of formidable ladies, single-handedly changed the course Second World War: a cohort hand-picked by Winston Churchill, whom he called his Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare. Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is a gripping and vivid narrative of adventure and derring-do that is also, perhaps, the last great untold story of the Second World War"-- Provided by publisher
Publisher:
New York : Picador, 2017
Edition:
First U.S. edition
Copyright Date:
©2016
ISBN:
9781250119025
1250119022
1250119022
Branch Call Number:
940.54 Milton 2017
Characteristics:
x, 356 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 25 cm
Alternative Title:
Mavericks who plotted Hitler's defeat
Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare
Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare



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Add a CommentThe author's boyish enthusiasm for things-that-go-boom gets old as his book proceeds.
Loved this book. The Italian ship incident in West Africa was amazing. Plus the gumming up of the Panzer transports during the Normandy inavasion was eye-opening. Well worth your time.
I am a huge fan of espionage/sabotage/spycraft literature. This book was a gripping read. Two nights I stayed up really late--just one more chapter, just one more. Some of the sabotage exploits had been made into movies in the late 60s and 70s - I recognized the storylines.
Fascinating book, by a rather gung ho author where the status quo is concerned, but still an enlightening read. Was ignorant of Ian Fleming's older brother, Peter Fleming, and his guerrilla activities during WWII, so perhaps Patrick Dal-Zel wasn't the only model for Ian's James Bond character?
I had known of the assassination of the Nazi butcher of Czechoslavakia, but wasn't familiar with the details, which this author relays superbly.