how cunning helped the British win two world wars /
First Statement of Responsibility
Nicholas Rankin.
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
Specific Material Designation and Extent of Item
xiv, 466 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates :
Other Physical Details
illustrations ;
Dimensions
25 cm.
SERIES
Series Title
Churchill's wizards
GENERAL NOTES
Text of Note
"First published in Great Britain as Churchill's wizards : the British genius for deception, 1914-1945 in 2008 by Faber and Faber"--T.p. verso.
INTERNAL BIBLIOGRAPHIES/INDEXES NOTE
Text of Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. 423-439) and index.
CONTENTS NOTE
Text of Note
Pt. I. The war of nerves -- The nature of camouflage -- Engineering opinion -- Hiding and sniping -- Deception in the Dardanelles -- Steel trees -- Guile and guerilla -- The twice-promised land -- A dazzle of zebras -- Lying for Lloyd George -- Deceivers deceived -- Pt. 2 Wizards of WW2 -- Curtain up -- Winston is back -- Hiding the silver -- A great blow between the eyes -- Commando dagger -- British resistance -- Fire over England -- Radio propaganda -- 'A' Force: North Africa -- Impersonations -- The garden of forking paths -- The hinge of fate -- Mincemeat -- The double -- Overlord and fortitude -- V for vergeltung -- Epilogue.
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SUMMARY OR ABSTRACT
Text of Note
In A Genius for Deception , Rankin offers a lively and comprehensive history of how Britain bluffed, tricked, and spied its way to victory in two world wars. As he shows, a coherent program of strategic deception emerged in World War I, resting on the pillars of camouflage, propaganda, secret intelligence, and special forces. All forms of deception found an avid sponsor in Winston Churchill, who carried his enthusiasm for deceiving the enemy into World War II. Rankin vividly recounts such little-known episodes as the invention of camouflage by two French artist-soldiers, the creation of dummy airfields for the Germans to bomb during the Blitz, and the fabrication of an army that would supposedly invade Greece. --from publisher description