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Operation Mincemeat

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

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Operation Mincemeat

By: Ben Macintyre
Narrated by: Ben Macintyre
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Summary
 Bloomsbury presents Operation Mincemeat written and read by Ben Macintyre.

THE SUNDAY TIMES NO 1. BESTSELLER

'Astonishing . . . Sheds riveting new light on this breathtaking plan' Daily Mail

'A rollicking read' Max Hastings, Sunday Times

'Brilliant and almost absurdly entertaining' Malcolm Gladwell, New Yorker
____________________

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. It hoodwinked the Nazi espionage chiefs and saved thousands of lives by deploying a secret agent who was different 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.

The brainchild of an eccentric RAF officer and a brilliant Jewish barrister, the great hoax involved an extraordinary cast of characters including a famous forensic pathologist, a gold-prospector, an inventor, a beautiful secret service secretary, a submarine captain, three novelists, an irascible admiral who loved fly-fishing, and a dead Welsh tramp.

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.©2010 Ben Macintyre 20th Century Espionage Europe Germany Military Modern True Crime Winston Churchill War

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)
Ben Macintyre, also the author of the acclaimed Agent Zigzag, is fast becoming a one-man industry in these updated tales of cunning, bravery and skulduggery. With his mix of meticulous research and a good hack's eye for narrative, it is hard to think of a better guide to keep beckoning us back to that fascinating world
Macintyre has a journalist's nose for a great story, and a novelist's skill in its narration ... Even more spellbinding than his previous story of wartime espionage, Agent Zigzag, with a cast-list every bit as dotty and colourful ... Macintyre is a master of the thumbnail character sketch
With its fantastic plot and its cast of eccentric characters, the book reads like the most improbable of spy stories. It is a tribute to Macintyre's skill that we never for a moment forget that it is actually all true
Astonishing ... Sheds riveting new light on this breathtaking plan
Brilliant and almost absurdly entertaining (Malcolm Gladwell)
All stars
Most relevant
Growing up I had heard the seen the movie and heard the story of The Man Who Never Was but Ben Macintyre’s recount of this fascinating episode of British history is outstanding. Giving a face and a personality to Glyndwr Michael, Macintyre weaves a very personable story of Michael’s “recruitment” and his highly detailed preparation and delivery as a courier of battle plans. Macintyre’s research is extremely detailed but it is treatment of the people involved that is most effective - creating fully formed characters who feel the impact of the decisions they make requires a willingness to get inside the heads of the actors and to try to understand the gravitas of what they were trying to achieve. McIntyre achieves this brilliantly. Beautifully written and absolutely captivating in its reading, Operation Mincemeat is an outstanding account of one of the most intriguing stories of WWII.

Gripping tale of an incredible deception

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Covered so much fascinating and rich detail, numerous stories woven into one. Glad that recognition of some sort has been given to Mr Michael.

Amazing true story

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What a superb writer and historian Ben McIntyre is. His beautiful writing, sense of humour and irony and ability to bring the past alive with amazing empathy makes his stories brilliant and compelling. Another of his ‘must reads’. Love both the book and the characters Ben McIntyre so vividly paints. X

Another brilliantly told tale from Ben McIntyre

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I have read and listened to several books by Ben MacIntyre but this tale was not as captivating as his others and the detail around the corpse was quite off putting. The objective of the exercise was worthy and probably saved many soldiers lives but it was very insensitive regarding Glyndwer Michael and the treatment of his body as well as the dark humour around the description.

A bit of a macabre true story

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Amazing story, thoroughly researched and well told so that, even to someone so ignorant (me), it makes for exciting and interesting listening. Not only can Ben McIntyre weave a great story but he is a superb narrator

Amazing

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