Operation Fortitude: The Story Of The Spies And The Spy Operation That Saved D-Day - Hardcover

Levine, Joshua

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0762779926 ISBN 13: 9780762779925

Publisher: Lyons Press, 2011

Synopsis

Operation Fortitude tells the thrilling tale of an ingenious deception that changed the course of the Second World War. The story is one of intrigue, drama, and good fortune, practically a Hollywood script. It is the tale of double agents, fake radio transmissions and dummy invasion craft.

The success of D-Day was made possible by the efforts of people who were not even present on the Normandy Beaches. General Patton spent D-Day on British shores commanding a phantom army. Spanish double-agent GARBO sent messages relaying supposed intelligence from his fictitious spy network, fooling the Nazis right up until the end of the war. Even as the Normandy landings were happening, Hitler remained convinced they were a diversionary tactic to force him to move his troops. So, thanks to Fortitude, D-Day was a triumph; without it the war might well have had a very different outcome.

About this title

About the Author

Joshua Levine is a playwright, writer for television, producer, and the author of numerous books including, On A Wing and A Prayer, the story of the pioneering aviation heroes of World War I; Beauty & Atrocity,a history of the Irish Troubles (which was short-listed for the Writers' Guild 2010 Non-Fiction Book of the Year; as well as three books in the Forgotten Voices series.

From the Back Cover

The astonishing story of the spy network—and the curious collection of spies and counter-spies—that fooled the Nazis and safeguarded D-Day

 

Meet the improbable cast of characters who came together to create an underground world of fakery and artifice . . . characters predisposed to fantasy and melodrama, others who grew unable to separate the real from the imaginary, and others still whostubbornly brought their own certainty with them. It was a world in which the Germans wanted to believe.

 

D-Day would never have been the success it was without Operation Fortitude. Convincing the German High Command that the Allied landings would occur more than 230 miles away in the Pas de Calais, Fortitude was an ingenious deception that drew attention away from the real invasion force. Using a complex setup of double agents, fake radio broadcasts, dummy invasion craft, and imaginary troops, Fortitude was so convincing that Hitler was reluctant to believe reports of the real D-Day invasion.

 

Operation Fortitude tells the thrilling tale of the exploits of those men and women who ensured that D-Day was the pivotal turning point of the Second World War.

From the Inside Flap

Much of the success of D-Day was made possible by the efforts of people who were not even present on the Normandy beaches. General Patton spent D-Day on British shores commanding a phantom army. Spanish double-agent Garbo sent messages relaying supposed intelligence from his fictitious spy network, fooling the Nazis right up until the end of the war.

Even as the Normandy landings were happening, Hitler remained convinced they were a diversionary tactic to force him to move his troops. So, thanks to Fortitude, D-Day was a triumph; without it the war might well have had a very different outcome.

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Much of the success of D-Day was made possible by the efforts of people who were not even present on the Normandy beaches. General Patton spent D-Day on British shores commanding a phantom army. Spanish double-agent Garbo sent messages relaying supposed intelligence from his fictitious spy network, fooling the Nazis right up until the end of the war.

 

Even as the Normandy landings were happening, Hitler remained convinced they were a diversionary tactic to force him to move his troops. So, thanks to Fortitude, D-Day was a triumph; without it the war might well have had a very different outcome.

Edition details

• Publisher: Lyons Press
• Publication date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0762779926
• ISBN 13: 9780762779925
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 280