audiobook Operation Mincemeat: How a Dead Man and a Bizarre Plan Fooled the Nazis and Assured an Allied Victor by Ben Macintyre in History

Review

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. An exquisite rendition of a pivotal event in WW II!By Miller.So I'm biased; or more properly hooked on Macintyre! His writing captures the essence of everything to come within the early paragraphs in almost every one of his books I have read. Mincemeat is no exception. You get the idea very soon which way this story is going to go but you cannot anticipate very far ahead because there is always a new character or some unexpected wrinkle proving " the best laid plans of mice and men..."Even with the twists and quirks; the scheme has a happy ending unless you were rooting for the Third Reich. It's a great story told by a great storyteller.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Fighting war creatively.By Teacher of TeachersThe basic facts about the story are easy to find these days; what with the internet; but this book is well worth every cent because it really gets you acquainted with the main characters as three-dimensional people embarking on a long-shot piece of subterfuge.What's particularly interesting is how the author shows you that the UK intelligence people were thinking very hard about how the enemy thinks. Starting there - like with Hitler's paranoia about a possible British landing at Greece or thereabouts - they could really "sell" the idea of Mincemeat to the Germans. The fact that the whole plan hinged on the ostensibly neutral Spanish makes it even more astonishing that the thing worked.A story about a different kind of warfare. Very entertaining and human. It's amazing that it's true.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Entertaining; Astounding; and EnlighteningBy Charles HuffMacintyre does a good job putting the reader right into the action. I was reminded while reading this book that non-fiction can differ from fiction in the number of characters the reader must keep straight. I commend Macintyre's efforts to help in that task by often using the real name alongside the alias. Nevertheless; it could still get a little confusing especially when double agents were involved.That said; I must add how much I enjoyed reading a bit of history that gets swept under the broad-brush treatment we normally get in viewing world events. It brings to mind the saying of the stage: there's no such thing as small parts; only small actors. Macintyre admits that the Sicily invasion could have been done without this one piece of deception and that no one can prove it had an impact. However; he makes a very strong case for the importance of it. I found how detailed they were in faking their ruse very fascinating. Watching how committed the Germans were to believing the ruse simply because they wanted to surpassed the work that went into creating the lie.Operation Mincemeat was like reading a mystery that let you know the who the perpetrator was at the beginning and let you accompany him as he developed the intrigue and misleading clues. It's entertaining; astounding; and enlightening. I am now wondering where to go to get to the truth of what is happening in world; national; and even local events.