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Operation Mincemeat: How a Dead Man and a Bizarre Plan Fooled the Nazis and Assured an Allied Victory Audiobook
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(3.01) - 3,702 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
Ben Macintyre’s Agent Zigzag was hailed as “rollicking, spellbinding” (New York Times), “wildly improbable but entirely true” (Entertainment Weekly), and, quite simply, “the best book ever written” (Boston Globe). In his new book, Operation Mincemeat, he tells an extraordinary story that will delight his legions of fans. In 1943, from a windowless basement office in London, two brilliant intelligence officers conceived a plan that was both simple and complicated— Operation Mincemeat. The purpose? To deceive the Nazis into thinking that Allied forces were planning to attack southern Europe by way of Greece or Sardinia, rather than Sicily, as the Nazis had assumed, and the Allies ultimately chose. Charles Cholmondeley of MI5 and the British naval intelligence officer Ewen Montagu could not have been more different. Cholmondeley was a dreamer seeking adventure. Montagu was an aristocratic, detail-oriented barrister. But together they were the perfect team and created an ingenious plan: Get a corpse, equip it with secret (but false and misleading) papers concerning the invasion, then drop it off the coast of Spain where German spies would, they hoped, take the bait. The idea was approved by British intelligence officials, including Ian Fleming (creator of James Bond). Winston Churchill believed it might ring true to the Axis and help bring victory to the Allies. Filled with spies, double agents, rogues, fearless heroes, and one very important corpse, the story of Operation Mincemeat reads like an international thriller. Unveiling never-before-released material, Ben Macintyre brings the reader right into the minds of intelligence officers, their moles and spies, and the German Abwehr agents who suffered the “twin frailties of wishfulness and yesmanship.” He weaves together the eccentric personalities of Cholmondeley and Montagu and their near-impossible feats into a riveting adventure that not only saved thousands of lives but paved the way for a pivotal battle in Sicily and, ultimately, Allied success in the war.
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"I thought this book was really good, what a great inside look at one of the best deceptions of WWII. Double agents, espionage, counter-intelligence, what more could you need from a book called Operation Mincemeat? Thoroughly enjoyed it and even if you don't like wartime history books, you should still pick this one to read, it is well worth it."
— Sam (4 out of 5 stars)
Awards
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New York Times Book Review 100 Notable Books for Nonfiction, 2010
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A New York Times bestseller
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A Los Angeles Times bestseller
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A Wall Street Journal bestseller
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A Washington Post bestseller
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An NPR bestseller
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A San Francisco Chronicle bestseller
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Winner of the 2010 Publishers Weekly Listen-Up Award
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A 2010 GoodReads Readers’ Choice Nominee for History and Biography
Operation Mincemeat Listener Reviews
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Steven Brown, 9/30/2023
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Elizabeth James, 1/16/2023
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Edward Winterberger, 10/26/2022
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" I had no idea this happened, but I loved reading about it. "
— Alyson, 2/20/2014 -
" A book about an operation led by MI-5 that resulted in success in the invasion of Sicily in WWII. It was exciting to read from start to finish. "
— Marilee, 2/13/2014 -
" I had a hard time figuring out why people love this book so much.... the basic story is fascinating, but there is far too much information for me. I had to just skim the last 100 pages, and if I had started doing that 100 pages earlier I would have been happier. "
— Patricia, 2/9/2014 -
" An interesting account telling the reader how the Allies mislead the Axis during WWII. A very good story with good writing, but no David Halberstam. "
— Rod, 1/28/2014 -
" Simply great. Do you like true WWII stories that changed the course of the war for the better? Especially ones that are almost too off the wall to be true, but are? Then you HAVE TO read this one. Just incredible!! "
— John, 1/28/2014 -
" Good! I was concerned it would get dreary after a while, but the author managed to keep the story engaging even through almost overwhelming amounts of information. "
— Christine, 1/25/2014 -
" Good book but it ran on a little long in parts. It's amazing the amount of work and luck that went into Operation Mincemeat. "
— Ron, 1/19/2014 -
" This is a well researched true story which is much stranger than fiction. "You couldn't make it up! " Packed with incident and a cast of extraordinary and eccentric characters. Love this page-turner. "
— Glenys, 1/11/2014 -
" True life spy story that reads like fiction,fantastic. Thoroughly recommend it. "
— Darren, 10/21/2013 -
" This was a fascinating recount of a true but insanely movie-like espionage plot in WWII that was very successful. However, it proved a poor choice for an audiobook. The massive level of detail made it hard to follow just listening to it. "
— Laurie, 9/19/2013 -
" Superbly written and researched,this is the sort of story that makes me love history! "
— Lois, 9/5/2013 -
" Oh, to be an upper class, white, British man in World War II, working for MI5. It appears that that was the life. Extremely entertaining book. "
— Molly, 8/28/2013 -
" Interesting story, but it didn't have as much "can't put it down" suspense as I might have hoped for. I picked it up and put it down 3-4 times over a year. "
— Elliott, 8/25/2013 -
" Absurdly entertaining.... a great read. "
— raul, 7/19/2013 -
" Great book for those who like history. Goes into a lot of detail regarding this specific operation. "
— Amy, 3/10/2013 -
" One of the best WWII books I've ever read. Fun to read the whole way through! "
— Ryan, 5/22/2012 -
" An incredibly well put together history of one of the most unique stories of WWII. I highly recommend it - a history book with the feel of a good novel. Do not pass it up "
— Loren, 3/23/2012 -
" One of my rare forays into nonfiction. The title basically says it all. Interesting account but starts to slow down about two-thirds of the way through after the ruse works. "
— Ron, 8/17/2011 -
" Extremely fascinating book about some very out-of-the-box thinking to create opportunities and advantages in time of war. Very good read! Almost like reading a military fiction, except it's all real. "
— Patderock, 6/19/2011 -
" This was perhaps not the best book to listen to as an audio book. I found myself missing what were probably crucial details in the complicated story and getting lost in what they were talking about. It is an interesting piece of history, but this book will require your full attention. "
— Tania, 12/6/2010 -
" stranger than fiction! "
— Ruffin, 11/6/2010 -
" I really enjoyed this book. It gave me a new respect for the British Intelligence Agency in WWII. QUite a fascinating story. "
— Carol, 10/23/2010 -
" A great story of how the British deceived the Germans into thinking the D-Day invasion would be from the Mediterranean area. "
— Dale, 7/14/2010
About Ben Macintyre
Ben Macintyre is a writer-at-large for The Times (London) and the bestselling author of several acclaimed books, including A Spy among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal, winner of Spear’s Book Award and named a best book of the year by the New York Times Book Review, Washington Post, and others. He has also written and presented BBC documentaries of his work.
About John Lee
John Lee is the winner of numerous Earphones Awards and the prestigious Audie Award for Best Narration. He has twice won acclaim as AudioFile’s Best Voice in Fiction & Classics. He also narrates video games, does voice-over work, and writes plays. He is an accomplished stage actor and has written and coproduced the feature films Breathing Hard and Forfeit. He played Alydon in the 1963–64 Doctor Who serial The Daleks.