Operation Jedburgh: D-Day and America's First Shadow War

A thrilling account of one of the most important covert operations of World War II

In 1943, less than a year before D-Day, nearly three hundred American, British, and French soldiers—shadow warriors—parachuted deep behind enemy lines in France as part of the covert Operation Jedburgh. Working with the beleaguered French Resistance, the "Jeds" launched a stunningly effective guerrilla campaign against the Germans in preparation for the Normandy invasion. Colin Beavan, whose grandfather helped direct Operation Jedburgh for the Office of Strategic Services, draws on scores of interviews with the surviving Jeds and their families to tell the thrilling story of the rowdy daredevils who carried out America's first specialforces missions—forever changing the way Americans wage war.

Colin Beavan is the author of Fingerprints: The Origins of Crime Detection and the Murder Case That Launched Forensic Science. He has written for Esquire, The Atlantic Monthly, Men's Journal, and Wired.