Overview

From one of the foremost historians of the period and the acclaimed author of Inferno and Catastrophe: 1914, The Secret War is a sweeping examination of one of the most important yet underexplored aspects of World War II--intelligence--showing how espionage successes and failures by the United States, Britain, Russia, Germany, and Japan influenced the course of the war and its final outcome. Spies, codes, and guerrillas played unprecedentedly critical roles in the Second World War, exploited by every nation in the struggle to gain secret knowledge of its foes, and to sow havoc behind the fronts. In The Secret War, Max Hastings presents a worldwide cast of characters and some extraordinary sagas of intelligence and resistance, to create a new perspective on the greatest conflict in history.

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9781504732697

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Reviews

Hastings returns to World War II with the usual entirely satisfying results. There are plenty of excellent accounts of the war's espionage, codebreaking, and secret operations...A masterful account of wartime skulduggery that has relevance still today. -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review) Provides readers with a thorough understanding of how intelligence operated during the conflict...Recommended. -- Library Journal A total thriller with a full cast of killers, swashbucklers, and beautiful adventuresses. The best history of war intelligence yet. -- Simon Sebag Montefiore, New York Times bestsellling author Embodies a herculean research effort down to the minutest detail. Fear not. In spite of its heft, this tome is a real page turner...These chapters blend first-rate reportage, finely chiseled portraits, and in-depth research. They brim with true tales of sacrifice and petty-mindedness, miraculous breakthroughs and cynical betrayal. -- New York Times Book Review A marvelous book-smart, carefully and exhaustively researched, and highly informative. Even those exceptionally knowledgeable about World War II will find it extremely valuable. It is compelling and fascinating reading. -- Christian Science Monitor Brilliantly depicts the byzantine world of intelligence agencies, with dry humor and perception. -- New York Review of Books A superb survey of an always interesting aspect of warfare. -- Booklist Narrator Steven Crossley's British accent gives his narration a winsome and academic-sounding quality...The production is long and will take a lot of stamina from the listener but will be worth it for those who persevere. That Crossley was able to make it to the end of this with such consistency and strength of voice is a feat in itself. -- AudioFile

Narrator Steven Crossley's British accent gives his narration a winsome and academic-sounding quality...The production is long and will take a lot of stamina from the listener but will be worth it for those who persevere. That Crossley was able to make it to the end of this with such consistency and strength of voice is a feat in itself. -- AudioFile A superb survey of an always interesting aspect of warfare. -- Booklist Provides readers with a thorough understanding of how intelligence operated during the conflict...Recommended. -- Library Journal Hastings returns to World War II with the usual entirely satisfying results. There are plenty of excellent accounts of the war's espionage, codebreaking, and secret operations...A masterful account of wartime skulduggery that has relevance still today. -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review) Brilliantly depicts the byzantine world of intelligence agencies, with dry humor and perception. -- New York Review of Books A marvelous book-smart, carefully and exhaustively researched, and highly informative. Even those exceptionally knowledgeable about World War II will find it extremely valuable. It is compelling and fascinating reading. -- Christian Science Monitor Embodies a herculean research effort down to the minutest detail. Fear not. In spite of its heft, this tome is a real page turner...These chapters blend first-rate reportage, finely chiseled portraits, and in-depth research. They brim with true tales of sacrifice and petty-mindedness, miraculous breakthroughs and cynical betrayal. -- New York Times Book Review A total thriller with a full cast of killers, swashbucklers, and beautiful adventuresses. The best history of war intelligence yet. -- Simon Sebag Montefiore, New York Times bestsellling author

Author Information

Max Hastings is the author of more than twenty books. He has served as a foreign correspondent and as the editor of Britain's Evening Standard and Daily Telegraph. He has received numerous British Press awards, including Journalist of the Year in 1982 and Editor of the Year in 1988. Steven Crossley, a graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, has built a career on both sides of the Atlantic as an actor and audiobook narrator, for which he has won more than a dozen AudioFile Earphones Awards and been a nominee for the prestigious Audie Award. He is a member of the internationally renowned theater company Complicite and has appeared in numerous theater, television, film, and radio dramas.

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