Try free for 30 days

  • Operation Mincemeat

  • The True Spy Story that Changed the Course of World War II
  • By: Ben Macintyre
  • Narrated by: John Lee
  • Length: 11 hrs and 18 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (131 ratings)

1 credit a month to use on any title, yours to keep (you’ll use your first credit on this title).
Stream or download thousands of included titles.
Access to exclusive deals and discounts.
$16.45 a month after 30 day trial. Cancel anytime.
Operation Mincemeat cover art

Operation Mincemeat

By: Ben Macintyre
Narrated by: John Lee
Try for $0.00

$16.45 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $26.99

Buy Now for $26.99

Pay using voucher balance (if applicable) then card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions Of Use and Privacy Notice and authorise Audible to charge your designated credit card or another available credit card on file.

Publisher's Summary

Now a major film, starring Colin Firth, Matthew Mcfadyen, Kelly Macdonald, Penelope Wilson, Johnny Flynn and Jason Isaacs.

A Richard and Judy Book Club selection.

A Sunday Times number one best seller.

April, 1943: A sardine fisherman spots the corpse of a British soldier floating in the sea off the coast of Spain and sets off a train of events that would change the course of the Second World War.

Operation Mincemeat was the most successful wartime deception ever attempted, and the strangest. It hoodwinked the Nazi espionage chiefs, sent German troops hurtling in the wrong direction and saved thousands of lives by deploying a secret agent who was different, in one crucial respect, from any spy before or since: he was dead. His mission: to convince the Germans that instead of attacking Sicily, the Allied armies planned to invade Greece.

This is the true story of the most extraordinary deception ever planned by Churchill’s spies: an outrageous lie that travelled from a Whitehall basement all the way to Hitler’s desk.

Cover artwork courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures.

©2010 Ben Macintyre (P)2010 Random House
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

Critic Reviews

"A rollicking read for all those who enjoy a spy story so fanciful that Ian Fleming - himself an officer in Montagu's wartime department - would never have dared to invent it." (Max Hastings, Sunday Times)

"Brilliant and almost absurdly entertaining." (New Yorker)

"Astonishing.... Sheds riveting new light on this breath taking plan." (Daily Mail)

What listeners say about Operation Mincemeat

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    88
  • 4 Stars
    29
  • 3 Stars
    9
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    4
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    79
  • 4 Stars
    20
  • 3 Stars
    8
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    5
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    87
  • 4 Stars
    16
  • 3 Stars
    8
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    4

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant

Great chapter of WW2. Comprehensive story telling and compelling listening. On of the truly great stories of the war.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Extraordinary story of intrigue

Amazing insight into espionage by an accomplished author, spoilt especially at the beginning by too much detail and by the narrator’s almost gunshot delivery. An excellent true account that could do with editing still.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

A side of ww2 I'd never seen before

Rather fascinating story, went a bit deep into the lives of all these brits for me but this results in some great anecdotes and the high level story is remarkable

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Riveting story

Truly amazing story. To have done all this and kept it a secret, incredible! Shame the movie was so poor. 1956 movie was better.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent

Highly recommend, great true story very well written! I thought I knew this episode of WWII but was mistaken.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fascinating account of a long held secret.

As I listened to the clipped British accent of the narrator, I had to keep reminding myself that this was actually true! Fake news never saved so many.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent story

well written and narrated, a thrilling account of an exceptional deception carried out in ww2

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

incredible story

an amazing true story .... truly epic and only british could achieve such a deception, although there had to have been at least an element of complicity on behalf of tge neutral/axis powers

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Very enlightening and insightful.

A very entertaining and insightful look behind the scenes of what was going on behind closed doors during WWII.
If you can get beyond the often long winded details of each character, the book reveals amazing information and the extraordinary efforts to disguise a plan of deception. The take away is not to be fooled by everyone or everything you hear, nor discount truth, which is always there working for the good, though often shrouded in lies. Everyone had a role to play in winning the war for the Allies, and those hidden heroes who were part of this amazing exploit,deserve the recognition of their great contribution.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Amazing the Brits do it again.

It was a good listen and full of amazing true stories, the last great generation. Great listen highly recommended.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.