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A Genius for Deception

How Cunning Helped the British Win Two World Wars

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A Genius for Deception

De: Nicholas Rankin
Narrado por: Napoleon Ryan
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In February 1942, intelligence officer Victor Jones erected 150 tents behind British lines in North Africa. "Hiding tanks in Bedouin tents was an old British trick," writes Nicholas Rankin. German general Erwin Rommel not only knew of the ploy, but had copied it himself. Jones knew that Rommel knew. In fact, he counted on it - for these tents were empty. With the deception that he was carrying out a deception, Jones made a weak point look like a trap. In A Genius for Deception, Nicholas Rankin offers a lively and comprehensive history of how Britain bluffed, tricked, and spied its way to victory in two world wars. As Rankin shows, a coherent program of strategic deception emerged in World War I, resting on the pillars of camouflage, propaganda, secret intelligence, and special forces. All forms of deception found an avid sponsor in Winston Churchill, who carried his enthusiasm for deceiving the enemy into World War II.

Rankin vividly recounts such little-known episodes as the invention of camouflage by two French artist-soldiers, the creation of dummy airfields for the Germans to bomb during the Blitz, and the fabrication of an army that would supposedly invade Greece. Strategic deception would be key to a number of WWII battles, culminating in the massive misdirection that proved critical to the success of the D-Day invasion in 1944. Deeply researched and written with an eye for telling detail, A Genius for Deception shows how the British used craft and cunning to help win the most devastating wars in human history.

©2008 Nicholas Rankin (P)2014 Audible Inc. Américas Estados Unidos Europa Gran Bretaña Guerras y Conflictos Militar Primera Guerra Mundial Segunda Guerra Mundial Guerra Winston Churchill Inglaterra Imperialismo Edad media Reino Unido Espionaje África
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Stranger than fiction in some aspects. Highly recommend. Narration was amazing. Needs better, longer conclusion.

Great book

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I mostly read fiction, so this book was a radical departure for me. The stories I usually read are carefully engineered to hold my interest for every moment through character building, exciting plot elements and the satisfaction of the conclusion.
It is quite an accomplishment that the author could produce 20+ hours of information about what seems to be a very narrow facet of world war 2 that is more interesting than the lion's share of epic fiction I read.
There is something very satisfying in the knowledge that all these wild tales are actually true. In today's books and movies, we are routinely presented with gigantic conspiracies and unlikely coincidences which defy common sense. In this book, the author brings to light a variety of all kinds of daring plans, many of which actually worked. He also does a good job of filling in the background, giving the reader an understanding of why these plans were necessary. He also fleshes out some of the more interesting personalities involved.
Not every chapter of the book was equally interesting, but as a book of this type I would put it in the top of its category.
As an American, it stood out that the author does not my country in very high regard, but this attitude was not a major theme and did not stop me from enjoying the book. My overall conclusion is that any listener who enjoys reading about WW2 will not regret purchasing this title.

Highly Recommended even for Fiction Readers

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The book is great. The narrator was a bit hard to follow, since he liked to trail off at the end of sentences or for dramatic effect. It made listening in the car or other noisy areas difficult. I found myself rewinding often to try to catch what was said.

Great book, but need quiet space to listen

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I'm not one to really gush about an audiobook but this is one that is compelling in both the author storytelling skill as well as Napeleon Ryan's as narrator. Napeleon was not only so well suited but beautifully directed as weil in his delivery. So kudos to everyone who created this wonderful audiowork.

Let me paint two pictures that came to my minds eye as I listened:
1. You're in a UK Command bunker in WWll. The room is filled with information flowing in and out filtered by various folks in the dim light. In the middle of the room, a map of Europe with little models of ships and soldiers representing movements and data.
In the middle of the smokey room, speaking is the Command Leader: The leader is the narrator Napeleon Ryan.

2. Or perhaps you're sitting with a retired WWll leader in a dark paneled wood room, with cigar and a whiskey located in a quiet reserved and discrete club in London. And Napeleon Ryan, as the leader is sharing you this story.

Author Nicholas Rankin's rich mesmerizing work comes alive further with Napoleon Ryan crisp, concise delivery. I don't know if this book won any awards or if it was nominated, but I would have voted for it. This audio book delivers and then some! I look forward to more from Nicholas Rankin and Napoleon Ryan.

In the 70s, there was a acclaimed British TV series called World at War narrated by Sir Lawrence Olivier. In my opinion, this book and the audiobook, like World at War, is compelling storytelling at its finest. So enjoy!

And Mr. Rankin, keep writing these wonderful works! You have a gift.

Compelling storytelling at its finest

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Nicholas Rankin tells about Archibald Wavell, whose career began in the Boer War and ended with him a Field Marshall and Viceroy of India. Wavell wrote “The beginnings of any war by the British are always marked by improvidence, improvisation, and too often, alas, impossibilities being asked of the troops.” Improvisation defined British deception operations, camouflaging soldiers in the field, building entire fake armies and fake cities to fool airborne reconnaissance and bombers, counter sniping with dummy heads-all originated in the British amateur spirit and gift for discovering a way forward out of the strangest materials. The first half of the book is about World War One and the second half covers World War Two.

At the outbreak of World War I in 1914 Solomon J. Solomon a portrait painter became obsessed with camouflaging soldiers. With the help from members of the London theatrical and artistic worlds he started a British Army School of Camouflage in Hyde Park. Another painter marine artist Norman Wilkinson designed a better method to camouflage ships from submarine attacks. He used a vivid painting of the vessel that dazzled and gave the impression that the head is where the stern is.

Sefton Delmer in late 1930s produced a German language radio program to entertain and seed disinformation to demoralize Hitler’s troops. The program ran all during the war. The author also discusses the famous Operation Mincemeat. Rankin states that the British Military have always looked for ways to outsmart their enemies, by hiding the extent of and defensive weakness and obscuring the timing and direction of any offensives. The author states the British integrate deception into the highest level of strategic planning during the two world wars. Some escapades became famous: phony units with pretend tanks, a double of General Bernard Montgomery arriving in Gibraltar to discuss fake operations. I got a good laugh at one story Rankin tells about the Luftwaffe paying tribute to a dummy railhead in Egypt by dropping a wooden bomb on it.

Churchill loved cloak-dagger exploits and was fascinated by cryptography, and military wizardry. Churchill promoted unorthodox figures who excelled in the crucial field of camouflage, propaganda, secret intelligence and Special Forces operation. Rank quotes one of Churchill’s famous declarations that he lived up to that “in wartime the truth should be protected by a bodyguard of lies.”

The book is a page turner and lots of fun; it covers many exciting and interesting illustration of British deception. If you are interested in either WWI or WWII or just in military history this is a must book for you. It is fairly long at about 22 hours. Napoleon Ryan does a great job narrating the book.

A page turner

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The first half of the book covers the First World War. Perhaps, because I've spent very little time with that period, the narrative seemed a bit confusing. I wasn't sure of the point nor that all would qualify under the deception label. The Second World War section is better, and the connection to the First makes the first part more important and significant. Overall interesting.

Interesting

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