My rating: 4 of 5 stars
While I'm a fan of fictional spy thrillers, it's always great to crack into the genuine article. This chronicle of MI5's effort to turn Nazi spies into German agents during World War II is brilliant proof of the old adage "truth is stranger than fiction." I listened to the audiobook twice, fascinated by the twists and turns of a real life fight by Allied intelligence to mislead the enemy.
The "Twenty Committee" (so named for the Roman numerals XX, a double cross) began with the belief that a live enemy spy might be more useful than a dead one, if he could be turned to the proper use. A subunit of MI5, these agents gradually moved from merely confusing the enemy to actively planting false intelligence into the very nerve center of the Third Reich. The continued success of these agents earned them the right to defend the D-Day landing with Operation Fortitude, described in the book as the largest planned deceit in military history. Their mission? Convince the enemy the invasion landing would be somewhere other than landing site of Normandy, by any means necessary.
The narrative's main strength is its focus on individuals. The author presents personal details and descriptions of each person, spy and spymaster alike, on all sides. There's the expected femme fatales and global playboys, but also close friends and couples driven to the brink of their personal relationships from the stress of war. There's a young woman who values her dog over nearly everything else (even her service), a German expat who tutors MI5 on her country's psychological weaknesses, and even an actor recruited to impersonate an Allie commander. Famous figures like Churchill and Eisenhower make cameos, but the emphasis is on the hidden heroes of the intelligence world.
This intimate focus provides an important humanizing element amidst the intrigue, but the book is no slouch when it comes to plain facts either. It combines recently declassified MI5 records with personal accounts of the events written by the people themselves, including previously published books, private journal entries, and preserved letters from the time period. Nearly ever important event is presented with a direct quotation from the people involved. There are still some mysteries left unsolved from the time; when a direct outcome is unknown, the author takes care to present multiple theories of what may have occurred with the supporting evidence.
The Twenty Committee was bold and imaginative, using methods that ranged from the creative to the outright zany. Poorly bred pigeons were let loose near German nests with fake intelligence to mislead the enemy, while General Patton was actually put in charge of a nonexistent army. For me, though, the oddest part of the whole story is how thoroughly the Brits managed to fool their German counterparts. British intelligence cracked the German wireless code at the start of the war and was thus able to listen in on all communications made by the enemy. This "most secret source" allowed the Twenty Committee to discover that they had gained control of every agent sent by the enemy to spy on them. Amazingly, even after the D-Day landing proved to be a colossal intelligence failure on the part of the Germans, they continued to rely on the reports sent by the double agents.
The book's one weakness is in its repetitiveness, often driving home the same point one time too many. However, reader John Lee's excellent narration on the audiobook proved an ample distraction from such a minor annoyance, as he capably handled multiple voices, accents, and personas without once causing me confusion.
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning about this chapter of history from a point of view not normally encountered. The audiobook makes for a great companion on a long road trip, and the incredible stories it tells will entertain, inform, and inspire.
This review was previously posted at Goodreads and Amazon. I did not receive anything from the publisher or author for this review (but they're free to send me something now if they'd like). The cover was designed by Christopher Brand. The book is currently available from Random House in Paperback ($15.00), Hardcover ($26.00), eBook ($11.99), and audiobook editions ($40.00 CDs, $20 download).
