Spies, lies, and disguise : the daring tricks and deeds that won World War II

Title:

Author:

Swanson, Jennifer author.

ISBN:

9781681197791

Physical Description:

132 pages : illustrations ; 26 cm.

Contents:

License to kill -- Boating to safety: Operation Dynamo -- Churchill's secret army -- Code-breaking, Ultra style -- The dreaded Nachthexen (night witches) -- Cows can kill -- Hiding in plain sight -- Dead man floating (aka Operation Mincemeat) -- Bouncing bombs away! -- Pulling off the ultimate fake-out -- D-Day: invasion! -- Ghost armies, secret missions, and assassination attempts -- Covert spies working behind enemy lines -- Super-secret code talkers -- A ticking time bomb -- A final note.

Corporate Subject:

Great Britain. Government Communications Headquarters (1948- )

Subject Term:

World War, 1939-1945.

World War, 1939-1945 -- Campaigns -- France -- Normandy.

World War, 1939-1945 -- Camouflage.

Spies.

Espionage.

Added Author:

O'Malley, Kevin, 1961-

Summary:

In the late 1930s, times were desperate. The world found itself at war again, hardly more than twenty years after the First World War had ended - and the stakes were never higher. The leaders of every country involved were left without a choice. They had to try to end the war as fast as possible, using whatever means they could. That meant coming up with secret operations meant to deceive, deflect, and confuse their enemies. ... Readers will be captivated by the Allies' classified, covert efforts to gain the upper hand and win the war.

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Hardwood Creek Library (Forest Lake)	J 940.548 SWA	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Park Grove Library (Cottage Grove)	J 940.548 SWA	Searching... Unknown
Searching... R.H. Stafford Library (Woodbury)	J 940.548 SWA	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Stillwater Public Library	J 940.548 SWA	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

In the late 1930s, times were desperate. The world found itself at war again, less than twenty years after the first World War had ended. No one could quite believe it. And no one wanted it. The leaders of every country involved were left with no choice. They had to try to end the war as fast as possible, using whatever means they could.
That meant coming up with secret operations meant to deceive, deflect, and confuse their enemies. Poison the cattle that the Germans eat? Deliberately float a corpse dressed up as a spy across the water to have it wash up on Germany's shore? Create a unit of top secret commandos with a license to kill? These were all real tactics attempted with the ultimate goal of defeating Hitler. In this off-center look at history, readers will be captivated by the classified and covert efforts made by each side as they tried to gain the upper hand and win the war. Restricted access is lifted to give the reader a peek into the top secret operations of the daring men and women who fought the war under a cloak of secrecy.

Author Notes

Jennifer Swanson has written more than twenty books in school and library focused series for National Geographic, Charlesbridge, and various other publishers. She attended the Naval Academy, where she received in BA in Chemistry. In addition to working as a full-time writer, she is a middle school science instructor for John Hopkins University's Center for Talented Youth.

Reviews (2)

School Library Journal Review

Gr 5--8--An unexpectedly humorous narrative chronicles some of the trickiest and most impressive espionage of World War II, including Roald Dahl's spy work, ghost armies composed of actors manning inflatable tanks and ships, and cunning code talkers. The highly readable and well-organized text is accompanied by occasional breakout panels and spreads and focuses mainly on missions conducted by the Allied powers. While each chapter is organized around a different type of spycraft or specific mission, the accounts are more or less chronologically arranged and touch on major events such as D-Day and the dropping of the atomic bombs, adding context that will help readers newer to the subject. The text is accompanied by a combination of period photographs and illustrations by O'Malley, whose expressive style adds to the book's cheekiness. VERDICT A must-read for budding military historians and spies-in-training. Purchase wherever books by Alan Gratz and thrillers like Framed! by James Ponti are popular.--Darla Salva Cruz, Suffolk Cooperative Library System, Bellport, NY

Kirkus Review

During World War II, the Allies developed myriad tricks, promulgated deceiving information, employed spies and double agents, and in general, did whatever they could to confuse the enemy.Unlike the limited focus of Paul Janeczko's Secret Soldiers (2019), Swanson's effort describes a wide range of varied subversive operations, including plans for biological warfare, the use of camouflage, the work of spies, and the efforts to blow up important dams in Germany's industrial Ruhr Valley, each chapter beginning with an imagined, humorous "wanted" poster. Much of the information is presented in a somewhat flippant way that sharply contrasts with the subject matter. Material on the war work of gay, closeted mathematician Alan Turing, who died tragically some years after the war, blithely concludes, "Cheers to Alan!" A chapter that describes plans to use anthrax to kill German cows begins with a "wanted" poster seeking volunteers to assist: "It will be a great way to cull the herd," it suggests. Factual errors appear often enough to undermine the presentation: Sheep and not cows perished in one of the anthrax experiments described; brave spy Noor Inayat Khan, a British Muslim woman, didn't assist before and after D-Day operations since the Germans arrested her eight months before; and the statement that the atomic bomb Little Boy "rocked the homes" of the residents of Hiroshima is a severe understatement. In contrast to the narrative, this effort includes outstanding period photographs.Disappointing. (Nonfiction. 10-14) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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Summary

Author Notes

Reviews (2)

School Library Journal Review

Kirkus Review

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