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How to Win an Information War: The…
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How to Win an Information War: The Propagandist Who Outwitted Hitler (edition 2024)

by Peter Pomerantsev (Author)

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551477,615 (3.75)10
"From one of our leading experts on disinformation, this inventive biography of the rogue WWII propagandist Thomas Sefton Delmer confronts hard questions about the nature of information war: what if you can't fight lies with truth? Can a propaganda war ever be won? In the summer of 1941, Hitler ruled Europe from the Atlantic to the Black Sea. Britain was struggling to combat his powerful propaganda machine, crowing victory and smearing his enemies as liars and manipulators over his frequent radio speeches, blasted out on loudspeakers and into homes. British claims that Hitler was dangerous had little impact against this wave of disinformation. Except for the broadcasts of someone called Der Chef, a German who questioned Nazi doctrine. He had access to high-ranking German military secrets and spoke of internal rebellion. His listeners included German soldiers and citizens, as well as politicians in Washington DC who were debating getting into the war. And--most importantly--Der Chef was a fiction. He was a character created by the British propagandist Thomas Sefton Delmer, a unique weapon in the war. Then, as author Peter Pomerantsev seeks to tell Delmer's story, he is called into a wartime propaganda effort of his own: the US response to the invasion of Ukraine. In flashes forward to the present day, Pomerantsev weaves in what he's learning from Delmer as he seeks to fight against Vladimir Putin's tyranny and lies. This book is the story of Delmer and his modern investigator, as they each embark on their own quest to manipulate the passions of supporters and enemies, and to turn the tide of an information war, an extraordinary history that is informing the present before our eyes"--… (more)
Member:Crotach
Title:How to Win an Information War: The Propagandist Who Outwitted Hitler
Authors:Peter Pomerantsev (Author)
Info:PublicAffairs (2024), 304 pages
Collections:Read but unowned
Rating:***1/2
Tags:2024

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How to Win an Information War: The Propagandist Who Outwitted Hitler by Peter Pomerantsev

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The story of Sefton Delmer (1904 - 1979), a British journalist who was born in Berlin and grew up in Germany as told by Peter Pomerantsev, a British journalist who was born in Kyiv. The book is principally about Nazi propaganda and Delmer’s important role in the production of British propaganda during the Second World War. Although entitled How to Win an Information War, it seems unlikely that British propaganda played much part in the Allies victory, and if one had to pick a winner in the battle between Sefton Delmer and Joseph Goebbels, I think the answer is clear.
It’s hard to read this story without thinking both of the deluge of propaganda that we are exposed to in the traditional media and of the layers of anonymous troll-driven propaganda on the internet - propaganda’s greatest friend. The story is one of a supposed necessity to fight manipulative lies with counter-lies. Ultimately the whole business is deeply depressing.
========================
Unless I missed it, the author never mentions or uses Delmer’s wife’s surname. She was born Isabel Nicholas. ( )
  markm2315 | Mar 26, 2024 |
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"From one of our leading experts on disinformation, this inventive biography of the rogue WWII propagandist Thomas Sefton Delmer confronts hard questions about the nature of information war: what if you can't fight lies with truth? Can a propaganda war ever be won? In the summer of 1941, Hitler ruled Europe from the Atlantic to the Black Sea. Britain was struggling to combat his powerful propaganda machine, crowing victory and smearing his enemies as liars and manipulators over his frequent radio speeches, blasted out on loudspeakers and into homes. British claims that Hitler was dangerous had little impact against this wave of disinformation. Except for the broadcasts of someone called Der Chef, a German who questioned Nazi doctrine. He had access to high-ranking German military secrets and spoke of internal rebellion. His listeners included German soldiers and citizens, as well as politicians in Washington DC who were debating getting into the war. And--most importantly--Der Chef was a fiction. He was a character created by the British propagandist Thomas Sefton Delmer, a unique weapon in the war. Then, as author Peter Pomerantsev seeks to tell Delmer's story, he is called into a wartime propaganda effort of his own: the US response to the invasion of Ukraine. In flashes forward to the present day, Pomerantsev weaves in what he's learning from Delmer as he seeks to fight against Vladimir Putin's tyranny and lies. This book is the story of Delmer and his modern investigator, as they each embark on their own quest to manipulate the passions of supporters and enemies, and to turn the tide of an information war, an extraordinary history that is informing the present before our eyes"--

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