The Man Who Never Was

The Story of Operation Mincemeat

by Ewen Montagu

Evans Brothers, 1953, b/w plates, illustrated end-papers, hardcover, dustjacket, 

Very Good Condition, minor rubbing to edges and corners.  Dustjacket price-clipped, small tears have been repaired in some places, edge and shelf-wear.

The Man Who Never Was provides an exciting and accurate record of the counter-intelligence conspiracy, Operation Mincemeat, which paved the way for the Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943. Ewen Montagu, who masterminded the whole scheme, gives his personal account of the audacious and innovative plot to outwit the Germans by washing up a dead body on Spanish shores, complete with apparently confidential information concealed about his person. The preparations were fraught with tensions, as unforeseen difficulties were faced in creating a life persona for 'the man who never was'. Furthermore, as the new introduction by intelligence expert Alan Stripp reveals, failure of the operation could have had devastating results.