Churchill's Wizards

Author: Nicholas Rankin
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780571221967
Category : Deception (Military science)
Languages : en
Pages : 688

Book Description
The real story of how Winston Churchill and the British mastered deception to defeat the Nazis - by conning the Kaiser, hoaxing Hitler and using brains to outwit brawn. By June 1940, most of Europe had fallen to the Nazis and Britain stood alone. So, with Winston Churchill in charge the British bluffed their way out of trouble, drawing on the trickery which had helped them win the First World War. They broadcast outrageous British propaganda on pretend German radio stations, broke German secret codes and eavesdropped on their messages. Every German spy in Britain was captured and many were used to send back false information to their controllers. Forged documents misled their intelligence. Bogus wireless traffic from entire phantom armies, dummy airfields with model planes, disguised ships and inflatable rubber tanks created a vital illusion of strength. Culminating in the spectacular misdirection that was so essential to the success of D-Day in 1944, Churchill's Wizards: The British Genius for Deception 1914-1945 is a thrilling work of popular military history filled with almost unbelievable stories of bravery, creativity and deception. Nicholas Rankin is the author of Dead Man's Chest, Telegram From Guernica and Ian Fleming's Commandos. 'This is a story clamouring to be told. We could not have imagined the scope of the inventiveness, the daring of these people's imaginations . . . I could not stop reading this book.' Doris Lessing

A Genius for Deception

Author: Nicholas Rankin
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199756716
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 490

Book Description
In February 1942, intelligence officer Victor Jones erected 150 tents behind British lines in North Africa. "Hiding tanks in Bedouin tents was an old British trick," writes Nicholas Rankin. German general Erwin Rommel not only knew of the ploy, but had copied it himself. Jones knew that Rommel knew. In fact, he counted on it--for these tents were empty. With the deception that he was carrying out a deception, Jones made a weak point look like a trap. In A Genius for Deception, Nicholas Rankin offers a lively and comprehensive history of how Britain bluffed, tricked, and spied its way to victory in two world wars. As Rankin 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. Strategic deception would be key to a number of WWII battles, culminating in the massive misdirection that proved critical to the success of the D-Day invasion in 1944. Deeply researched and written with an eye for telling detail, A Genius for Deception shows how the British used craft and cunning to help win the most devastating wars in human history.

Ian Fleming's Commandos

Author: Nicholas Rankin
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199782822
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 424

Book Description
Rankin tells the story of a secret intelligence outfit conceived and organized by Ian Fleming during World War II, named "30 Assault Unit", a group who was expected to seize enemy codebooks, cipher machines, and documents in high-stakes operations, and which inspired his creation of the James Bond character.

Winston Churchill's Toyshop

Author: Stuart MacRae
Publisher: Amberley Publishing Limited
ISBN: 1445610299
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 381

Book Description
The story of Churchill's personal weapons development department, staffed by ingenious boffins, who developed numerous innovative weapons that helped win the war.

Churchill's War Lab

Author: Taylor Downing
Publisher: Hachette UK
ISBN: 0748117539
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 372

Book Description
The man, and the only man we have for this hour.' Indefatigable patriot, seasoned soldier, incomparable orator and leader of men - Winston Churchill's greatness in leading Britain's coalition government to triumphant victory in the Second World War is undisputed. Yet Churchill's enduring legacy to the world is attributable at least in equal part to his unshakeable belief in the science of war. From the development of radar and the breakthroughs at Bletchley Park to the study of the D-Day beaches and the use of bouncing bombs, this brilliant and gripping narrative reveals the Second World War as an explosive phase of scientific history, an unprecedented crucible for change that involved a knife-edge race to the finish.

Churchill's Menagerie

Author: Piers Brendon
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 164313180X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 287

Book Description
Winston Churchill was known for his great love for and admiration of animals. In fact, one of Churchill’s key characteristics was his fascination with the animal kingdom—creatures of all sorts were a crucial element throughout his life. He was amused, intrigued, enchanted by, and sometimes even besotted with, a vast menagerie, from his pet budgerigar, dogs, cats, fish, and butterflies, to his own lion, leopard, and white kangaroos kept at London Zoo, and even more unusual species. Dwelling amid flora and fauna was Churchill’s ideal form of existence—“The world would be better off if it were inhabited only by animals”—and he signed his boyhood letters home “The Pussy Cat.”In this fascinating book, Dr. Piers Brendon looks deeper into Churchill’s love of the animal kingdom and at how animals played such a large part in his everyday life. We encounter the paradox of the animal-loving-hunter, who hunts foxes yet keeps them as pets, who likes fishing but loves fish, along with the man who used analogies to animals time and time again in his speeches and writings. The picture that emerges shows another side of the great man, showcasing his wit, wisdom, and wayward genius from a different perspective and shedding new and fascinating light on his love of the animal kingdom.

Churchill's Bestiary

Author: Piers Brendon
Publisher: Michael O'Mara Books
ISBN: 1789290511
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 439

Book Description
In this fascinating and unique biography, Dr Piers Brendon looks deeper into Churchill's love of the animal kingdom, and at how animals played such a large part in his everyday life.

Churchill's War Lab

Author: Taylor Downing
Publisher: Abrams
ISBN: 1590209931
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 294

Book Description
This WWII biography of Britain’s legendary Prime Minister examines his critical role in the military innovations that led to victory. Winston Churchill's vital leadership in the allied victory of World War II is undisputed. As a patriot, statesman, and orator, he successfully galvanized a beleaguered nation and helped coordinated a vast international bulwark against fascism. Yet, of his many unique qualities, Churchill's enduring legacy is attributable at least in equal part to his unshakeable fascination for the science of war. Churchill's War Lab reveals how Churchill's passion for military history, his inimitable leadership style, and his dedicated support of radical ideas would lead to new technologies and tactics that would enable an allied victory. No war generated more incredible theories, technical advances, and scientific leaps. From the development of radar and the decoding brilliance of Bletchley Park to the study of the D-Day beaches and the use of bouncing bombs, Churchill's War Lab is an enlightening and exciting new take on Churchill as a complex, powerful, and inventive war leader.

Defending the Rock

Author: Nicholas Rankin
Publisher: Faber & Faber
ISBN: 0571307736
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 581

Book Description
Adolf Hitler's failure to take Gibraltar in 1940 lost him the Second World War. But in truth the formidable Rock, jutting between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, was extraordinarily vulnerable. Every day, ten thousand people crossed its frontier to work, spy, sabotage or escape. It was threatened by Spain, Vichy France, Italy and Germany. After the USA entered the war, Gibraltar became General Eisenhower's strategic headquarters for the invasion of North Africa and the battle for the Mediterranean.

Winston Churchill's Imagination

Author: Paul Kent Alkon
Publisher: Associated University Presse
ISBN: 9780838756324
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 302

Book Description
Although Churchill is a 1953 Nobel laureate in literature, his famous speeches have overshadowed his other writing. Winston Churchill's Imagination concentrates on key works in modes other than political rhetoric to show how Churchill engages readers with those words and ideas that are hallmarks of his imagination. Chapters take up his literary relationship with Lawrence of Arabia; Churchill's intense but little-known involvement with cinema in an essay on Charlie Chaplin and as a script writer and consultant in the 1930s for Alexander Korda's film studio; Churchill's evocation of paintings as templates for narrative in his first history and in his only novel; his imaginative engagement with science and science fiction; the depiction of time, duration, and alternative history in his biography of Marlborough; and Churchill's last testament in the realm of imagination, The Dream.