No Cloak, No Dagger
by Benjamin Cowburn
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Description
This classic WWII spy memoir by an agent of the UK's Special Operations Executive offers a firsthand look at Allied espionage inside Nazi Occupied France. In this gripping memoir, SOE agent Benjamin Cowburn vividly recounts the methods of British special agents who were dropped into Vichy France during World War II with a mission of establishing secure networks with the French Resistance. His account sheds light on the views of both the Resistance fighters facing torture at the hands of show more the Gestapo and their besieged French countrymen. Cowburn also shares fascinating insight into the art of spying from establishing a worthy target to executing an operation. He tells the full story of his own sabotage operations, including the destruction of cylinders for thirteen locomotives in the dead of night. As in so many operations, mistakes were made which could have led to numerous arrests. In this case, the details of the operation had accidentally been left on a blackboard in the school where they had planned the raid, but were luckily scrubbed out by the headmaster's wife. On another occasion, Cowburn snuck itching powder into the laundry of Luftwaffe agents to cause a disruption. This new edition contains an Introduction by M.R.D. Foot and a Foreword by Sebastian Faulks. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
The experiences of one of the early english spies parachuted into France toassist in the establishment of the resistance movement and development of contant networks.
While it was obvious these activities were dangerous I did not get that feeling from the book, where a lot of time was spent cycling around France and only a vague idea of what was going on.
While it was obvious these activities were dangerous I did not get that feeling from the book, where a lot of time was spent cycling around France and only a vague idea of what was going on.
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1 Work 96 Members
'No Cloak, No Dagger epitomises so much of what was best in the early years of the British war effort, not just in SOE but in what Cowburn calls the Poor Bloody Infantry and the RAF as well. If there is a better SOE memoir, I hope someone will tell me its name' Sebastian Faulks 'Like my fellow agents. I was to pass for an average Frenchman, while show more secretly organizing the sabotage of selected targets. For this, explosives, incendiary devices and weapons had to be received and delivered to the right people, [to] Frenchmen and Frenchwomen who wished neither to collaborate nor to wait in misery...Beside the official, loud-voiced, arrogant world of collaboration and the sad, sullen world of official everyday life, was beginning to form the hidden, glowing world of faith and resistance. It was the privilege of a special agent to discover and recruit these fine people.' Benjamin Cowburn show less
Some Editions
Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- No Cloak, No Dagger
- Original publication date
- 1960
- People/Characters
- Special Operations Executive
- Important places
- France
- Important events
- World War II (1939 | 1945); World War II, German Occupation of France (1940 | 1944); French Resistance
Classifications
- Genres
- History, Nonfiction, Biography & Memoir, General Nonfiction
- DDC/MDS
- 940.548641092 — History & geography History of Europe History of Europe 1918- Military history of World War II Other Topics Unconventional warfare of Allies Europe British Isles
- LCC
- D810 .S8 .C653 — History of Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania History (General) World War II (1939-1945)
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 96
- Popularity
- 337,269
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.61)
- Languages
- English, French
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 5
- ASINs
- 6
