The Man Who Never Was: The Remarkable Story of Operation Mincemeat (Now the subject of a major new film starring Colin Firth as Ewen Montagu)
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Now the subject of a major new film starring Colin Firth as Ewen Montagu in Operation Mincemeat.
In the early hours of 30 April 1943, a corpse wearing the uniform of an officer in the Royal Marines was slipped into the waters off the south-west coast of Spain. With it was a briefcase, in which were papers detailing an imminent Allied invasion of Greece. As the British had anticipated, the supposedly neutral government of Fascist Spain turned the papers over to the Nazi High Command, who swallowed the story whole. It was perhaps the most decisive bluff of all time, for the Allies had no such plan: the purpose of ‘Operation Mincemeat’ was to blind the German High Command to their true objective – an attack on Southern Europe through Sicily. Though officially shrouded in secrecy, the operation soon became legendary (in part owing to Churchill’s habit of telling the story at dinner). Ewen Montagu was the operation’s mastermind, and in his celebrated post-war memoir, The Man who Never Was, he reveals the incredible true story behind ‘Operation Mincemeat’.
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Additional information
| Publisher | The History Press (1 Nov. 2021) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 192 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 0750993103 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0750993104 |
| Dimensions | 12.9 x 1.12 x 19.8 cm |
by Peter Sniadowski
This book, superbly written, is a testament to the ingenuity of the British Secret Services who, without a shadow of a doubt, helped to turn the war our way and save thousands of lives by the greatest deception exercise ever undertaken.
by Hugh Ramsey
A first hand account of what turned out to bean extraordinary but successful operation that no doubt saved thousands of allied lives during the Mediterranean campaign.
by Barry Neath
If you want to know what really happened then it’s book is for you. Having visited the the grave in Spain. This book made the journey worthwhile. So much better than the latest film.
by Brian James
What I liked about this book, is that it is based on a true if somewhat bizarre event that happened in WWII.
I like TRUE events to be recorded like this, because I am sick of too many war films which have attempted to
re-write history, or at least , – put a different slant on events or people. BUT THIS STORY IS TRUE.
I won’t spoil the story for any new readers or people who want to see the film, but this is a story of deception, using an already dead body to play another dead body…… if you see what I mean. Safe in the hands of the author – Ben McIntyre – you can be sure of of a fascinating and moving jounrney, as the
military boffins lead you into a deadly ( sorry about that ), tale of deceit, and deception, which ultimately
altered major operations in the course of WWII
by John Garlington
I enjoyed this book because it stuck to the facts of the deception and did not include fictional distractions like both films did. There was a good amount of suspense, though it did read in some places like a Royal Navy official report.
by john stretch
The author is the man who led the team that created this famous wartime deception. It is well written both from the point of view of detailed accuracy and, by its construction, keeping the reader on edge. I have dvds of both films and this is more exciting and probably more true to life. By the way, the earlier film is better than the more recent one.
by A R Cater
I first read this book over 60 years ago when I found it on my father’s bookshelf. I was a schoolboy at the time and lapped it up. More recently during lockdown I told my granddaughter about the story and bought her a copy of the book. She was fascinated. I recently spotted it available on Kindle and was delighted to buy myself a copy. The story is gripping and very easy to read. I’ve managed to finish the book within one day, fitting in reading between daily chores. It’s a real life adventure that would be worthy of James Bond and if you haven’t read it, I’d recommend you give it a try. You won’t regret it.
I’m looking forward to seeing the film Operation Mincemeat with Colin Firth in 2022 which is a modern telling of the story but if you can find the 1950’s film of The Man Who Never Was that too is worth watching.
by wordsmith44
Still in print following the release of a further film version of this extraordinary WW2 tale of audacious
deceit, this is an essential addition to any library of titles that relate to that conflict. Told by the man at
the heart of the tale in a style that reflects the style of other days and the need to retain secrecy at the
time of writing, it holds the attention throughout for its dispassionate account of an inventive exercise
in fooling the enemy that went to the highest level – Hitler himself – of the German war machine and
surely saved many lives in the success of its outcome. One can readily imagine and understand Churchill’s approval for the proposal when daring minds and plans were needed in the struggle against a meticulous
ruthless enemy. A superior example is told in this volume by someone who was there!
for what was proposed.