Read of the Month (July 2019)

It seems that the "Read of the Month" post has come round so quickly.
It does not help that I was so late with the June book.

Over the past few weeks there has been interest in the D-Day landings.
My suggestion follows this theme.

"Read of the Month" for July is

Operation Mincemeat " by Ben MacIntyre

This is an account of an audacious disinformation operation by the British during World War II to feed false information to the German High Command.


Those of you of a certain age will no doubt remember the film "The Man Who Never Was" often shown on TV in the 1960s and 1970s  but released in 1959. This film, starring Clifton Webb and Gloria Grahame (no I don't recognize the names either) was based on the true story of a British attempt to trick the enemy into weakening its defences in Sicily prior to a planned attack in 1943.

The idea, code name "Operation Mincemeat", was to drop a dead man in uniform with fake papers in a secure bag attached to his arm into the sea near an enemy stronghold.

As with most films of actual events, the facts are adjusted to fit the narrative.

In the book the enterprise is recounted in extensive detail from inception to the unexpected  consequences including the significance of various personnel involved, both English, German as well as Spanish some of whom are incredible characters

It is a remarkable tale. 
Truth is in fact stranger than fiction.
 It is as riveting and spellbinding as any spy novel or thriller and yet is a true story