Bodyguard of Lies
by Anthony Cave Brown
On This Page
Description
Examines Allied intelligence and counter-intelligence operations during World War II, describing the cipher machine used to break German codes and the tactics, ruses, and deception employed to ensure the successful invasion of Normandy.Tags
Recommendations
Member Recommendations
Member Reviews
Bodyguard of Lies is a massive brick of a book focusing on the deadly game of deceit and espionage between British and German intelligence agencies around the D-Day Landings. While Fortitude North, the well-known creation of a fake army under the command of General Patton to pin Nazi reserves as Pas de Calais during the invasion of Normandy, is the climax of the book, Brown covers everything, from the early days of the Phony War, through the desperate aftermath of Dunkirk and the clever ruses in North Africa. His command of the facts is impeccable, based on dozens of interviews and (at the time) recently declassified reports. The only area where I think material has been made available today is Bletchley Park, which was Top Secret right show more up until Bodyguard of Lies was published.
Brown takes a rather unique tack, focusing on the deception operation as the province of a small group of Etonian elites, the true masters of the British Empire, who orchestrated the movement of millions of men to produce a coherent and false picture for Hitler. Against them were matched the Prussian old guard, exemplified by the Abwehr spymaster Canaris, loyal to Germany and trying to move against Hitler. While the SOE was "setting Europe ablaze", a cadre of anti-Hitler German generals tried again and again to set up a coup with assurance of some sort of free Germany in the aftermath. This Schwarze Kappelle--Black Orchestra, made multiple attempts on Hitler's life, all thwarted through unlikely chances, but never achieved their political ends. The Allies already had all the intelligence they needed on Nazi intentions thanks to Ultra radio decryption, and FDR's policy of unconditional surrender made it hard to offer terms. I've divided on this stance. On the one hand, shortening the war with a surrender would have saved millions of lives. On the other hand, Aldo Raines has some good points on what Nazis deserve.
I wish there had been a little bit more on the early special forces, the SAS and SBS and SOE, and commando warfare. For all it's key importance, the XX Committee and the fact that every single Nazi spy in England was turned into a British agent didn't get a chapter to itself. But over all, Bodyguard of Lies is a detailed compilation of a very secret war. show less
Brown takes a rather unique tack, focusing on the deception operation as the province of a small group of Etonian elites, the true masters of the British Empire, who orchestrated the movement of millions of men to produce a coherent and false picture for Hitler. Against them were matched the Prussian old guard, exemplified by the Abwehr spymaster Canaris, loyal to Germany and trying to move against Hitler. While the SOE was "setting Europe ablaze", a cadre of anti-Hitler German generals tried again and again to set up a coup with assurance of some sort of free Germany in the aftermath. This Schwarze Kappelle--Black Orchestra, made multiple attempts on Hitler's life, all thwarted through unlikely chances, but never achieved their political ends. The Allies already had all the intelligence they needed on Nazi intentions thanks to Ultra radio decryption, and FDR's policy of unconditional surrender made it hard to offer terms. I've divided on this stance. On the one hand, shortening the war with a surrender would have saved millions of lives. On the other hand, Aldo Raines has some good points on what Nazis deserve.
I wish there had been a little bit more on the early special forces, the SAS and SBS and SOE, and commando warfare. For all it's key importance, the XX Committee and the fact that every single Nazi spy in England was turned into a British agent didn't get a chapter to itself. But over all, Bodyguard of Lies is a detailed compilation of a very secret war. show less
Superb. Lots of detail and you may swim in it for a while, but he always brings you back.
Ratings
Members
- Recently Added By
Author Information
18 Works 1,165 Members
Work Relationships
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title*
- Storia dei servizi segreti nella Seconda Guerra mondiale. Una cortina di bugie
- Original title
- Bodyguard of Lies
- Original publication date
- 1975
- People/Characters
- Winston Churchill; Dwight D. Eisenhower; Harry Hopkins; George C. Marshall; Bernard Law Montgomery; George S. Patton (show all 9); Erwin Rommel; Franklin Delano Roosevelt; Joseph Stalin
- Important places
- Africa; North Africa; France; Normandy, France
- Important events
- World War II (1939 | 1945); Operation Fortitude (1943-12 | 1944-03); Operation Mincemeat
- Epigraph
- “In war-time, truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies.” -- Winston Churchill.
- Quotations
- As de Guingand said to Clarke: "Well there it is. You must conceal 150,000 men with a thousand guns on a plain as flat and as hard as a billiard table, and the Germans must not know anything about it, although they will be wa... (show all)tching very movement, listening for every noise, charting every track. Every bloody wog will be watching you and telling the Germans what you are doing for the price of a packet of tea. You can't do it, of course, but you've bloody well got to!"
- Blurbers
- MacDonald, Charles B.; Morgan, Ted
- Original language
- English
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 461
- Popularity
- 65,883
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (4.12)
- Languages
- 5 — Dutch, English, French, Italian, Polish
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 15
- ASINs
- 13
