What do you think?
Rate this book
Twelve Desperate Miles: The Epic World War II Voyage of the SS Contessa
The Dirty Dozen meets Band of Brothers in this true story of how a rusty old New Orleans banana boat staffed with an unlikely crew of international merchant seamen, a gang of inmates from a local jail, and a French harbor pilot spirited out of Morocco by O.S.S. agents in the trunk of a Chevy, were drafted into service in WWII -- and heroically succeeded in setting the stage for Patton's epic invasion of North Africa.
The largest amphibious invasion force ever to cross the Atlantic Ocean set sail from Virginia for North Africa in November 1942. Operation Torch was the true beginning of the liberation of Europe since control of Northwestern Africa — Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia -- gave the Allies a base on the Mediterranean for the coming invasion of southern Europe. The prime objectives of the Moroccan invasion, headed by General George Patton, were the port city of Casablanca and an airfield 60 miles northeast of the city, which had the only concrete runways in the region. Unfortunately, the field was located a dozen miles up a shallow, twisting Moroccan river that wound its way down from the Atlas Mountains to the Atlantic. Patton needed five hundred tons of highly volatile airplane fuel and nine hundred tons of bombs delivered to that Moroccan airport to supply his planned air campaign against Casablanca, but he faced a major the river was too shallow for any available transport ship in the entire Allied fleet. As the clock ticked down on the invasion, the War Department searched every harbor and cove in the Atlantic and only at the last moment turned up the Contessa , a salt-caked, rust-stained Honduran-registered civilian freighter that had spent most of her undistinguished career hauling bananas and honeymooners from New Orleans to the river port harbors of the Caribbean. But at least she would be capable of hauling heavy cargo in shallow waters.
Twelve Desperate Miles tells the incredible story of the Contessa ’s role in the opening salvo of World War II. This unremarkable ship, crewed by seamen from twenty-six different nations and eighteen sailors pulled from the Norfolk County jail, became the focus of the first invasion of the war as it was rushed to Virginia at the insistence of George Patton and quickly retrofitted for war. Too late to join the safety of the massive convoy sailing for Africa, the Contessa set out on her own through the U-Boat-infested waters of the Atlantic to the shores of Morocco, where she faced her final and most daunting the twelve mile voyage up the shallow and well-defended Sebou River, carrying an explosive cocktail of gasoline and bombs in her holds.
In Twelve Desperate Miles , veteran history writer Tim Brady chronicles one of the great untold stories of the war. This surprising and entertaining account of the baptism of American forces on the Western Front is a mix of Moroccan intrigue, portraits of some of the great figures of the war (Patton, Eisenhower, Marshall, General Lucian Truscott) at its outset, snapshots of the daily workings of the colorful crew of a merchant ship, along with a thrilling account of the invasion of French Morocco. Twelve Desperate Miles offers a unique and fascinating picture of the war in its opening moments.
The largest amphibious invasion force ever to cross the Atlantic Ocean set sail from Virginia for North Africa in November 1942. Operation Torch was the true beginning of the liberation of Europe since control of Northwestern Africa — Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia -- gave the Allies a base on the Mediterranean for the coming invasion of southern Europe. The prime objectives of the Moroccan invasion, headed by General George Patton, were the port city of Casablanca and an airfield 60 miles northeast of the city, which had the only concrete runways in the region. Unfortunately, the field was located a dozen miles up a shallow, twisting Moroccan river that wound its way down from the Atlas Mountains to the Atlantic. Patton needed five hundred tons of highly volatile airplane fuel and nine hundred tons of bombs delivered to that Moroccan airport to supply his planned air campaign against Casablanca, but he faced a major the river was too shallow for any available transport ship in the entire Allied fleet. As the clock ticked down on the invasion, the War Department searched every harbor and cove in the Atlantic and only at the last moment turned up the Contessa , a salt-caked, rust-stained Honduran-registered civilian freighter that had spent most of her undistinguished career hauling bananas and honeymooners from New Orleans to the river port harbors of the Caribbean. But at least she would be capable of hauling heavy cargo in shallow waters.
Twelve Desperate Miles tells the incredible story of the Contessa ’s role in the opening salvo of World War II. This unremarkable ship, crewed by seamen from twenty-six different nations and eighteen sailors pulled from the Norfolk County jail, became the focus of the first invasion of the war as it was rushed to Virginia at the insistence of George Patton and quickly retrofitted for war. Too late to join the safety of the massive convoy sailing for Africa, the Contessa set out on her own through the U-Boat-infested waters of the Atlantic to the shores of Morocco, where she faced her final and most daunting the twelve mile voyage up the shallow and well-defended Sebou River, carrying an explosive cocktail of gasoline and bombs in her holds.
In Twelve Desperate Miles , veteran history writer Tim Brady chronicles one of the great untold stories of the war. This surprising and entertaining account of the baptism of American forces on the Western Front is a mix of Moroccan intrigue, portraits of some of the great figures of the war (Patton, Eisenhower, Marshall, General Lucian Truscott) at its outset, snapshots of the daily workings of the colorful crew of a merchant ship, along with a thrilling account of the invasion of French Morocco. Twelve Desperate Miles offers a unique and fascinating picture of the war in its opening moments.
328 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2012
63 people are currently reading
325 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews
March 23, 2022
This is a story about a banana boat manned by a bunch of jailbirds. (It’s actually more than that, but that image was my favorite part of the book.)
Why a banana boat? Well, when US forces planned their landings near Casablanca to take place in late 1942, they wanted access to an airfield. And to supply that airfield, they needed a ship that had a shallow enough draft to go twelve miles up the Cebu River with a bunch of highly flammable aircraft fuel, plus some ammunition for the ground forces.
Finding a cargo ship that could navigate the river was a challenge, but eventually the SS Contessa was identified and ordered from New York to Virginia to leave with the convoy heading to North Africa. Unfortunately, the Contessa had just returned from an extremely harsh crossing of the Atlantic and needed several days in dry dock. The convoy couldn’t wait for her.
Nevertheless, the dry dock workers pulled off a miracle and made all the repairs in a day. But then another problem arose. The Contessa’s previous crew hadn’t been home for months, and they’d expected the ship to be in dry dock for quite some time. They had scattered, to visit family or to blow off steam. Twenty-some sailor were still needed, and none could be found.
Then someone suggested there were at least that many sailors in the Norfolk area jails. And, yes, that is how the crew of a Honduran-flagged ship designed for working banana plantations was filled out for its vital role in the initial American landings in North Africa.
History is so interesting, isn’t it? As I said before, there’s much more to the book—the worry about whether or not the French would fight, the need to find a pilot who could navigate the river and smuggle him out of Vichy territory, George Patton’s role in it all, and the incredible luck Warner Brothers had in having a movie titled Casablanca ready to come out at just the right time.
I enjoyed some parts of the book more than others, but overall I was glad I gave it a listen.
Why a banana boat? Well, when US forces planned their landings near Casablanca to take place in late 1942, they wanted access to an airfield. And to supply that airfield, they needed a ship that had a shallow enough draft to go twelve miles up the Cebu River with a bunch of highly flammable aircraft fuel, plus some ammunition for the ground forces.
Finding a cargo ship that could navigate the river was a challenge, but eventually the SS Contessa was identified and ordered from New York to Virginia to leave with the convoy heading to North Africa. Unfortunately, the Contessa had just returned from an extremely harsh crossing of the Atlantic and needed several days in dry dock. The convoy couldn’t wait for her.
Nevertheless, the dry dock workers pulled off a miracle and made all the repairs in a day. But then another problem arose. The Contessa’s previous crew hadn’t been home for months, and they’d expected the ship to be in dry dock for quite some time. They had scattered, to visit family or to blow off steam. Twenty-some sailor were still needed, and none could be found.
Then someone suggested there were at least that many sailors in the Norfolk area jails. And, yes, that is how the crew of a Honduran-flagged ship designed for working banana plantations was filled out for its vital role in the initial American landings in North Africa.
History is so interesting, isn’t it? As I said before, there’s much more to the book—the worry about whether or not the French would fight, the need to find a pilot who could navigate the river and smuggle him out of Vichy territory, George Patton’s role in it all, and the incredible luck Warner Brothers had in having a movie titled Casablanca ready to come out at just the right time.
I enjoyed some parts of the book more than others, but overall I was glad I gave it a listen.
December 21, 2025
I enjoyed this book. It is an account of a harbor pilot from French Morrocco and the role he played in the invasion of North Africa. This culminated in a 12-mile trip up a shallow river in Morrocco. Those 12 miles are a bit anticlimactic. A wry take on the title perhaps is 12 Desperate Miles in the Last 12 pages. Nonetheless I found the information on French Vichy colonial politics and the force of Patton's will in setting up the Invasion force to be well done.
If you are looking for a book that describes the organization and logistics behind the American invasion of North Africa, this is one I would recommend. The readers should keep in mind though that the desperation in those 12 miles is a minor part of the book.
If you are looking for a book that describes the organization and logistics behind the American invasion of North Africa, this is one I would recommend. The readers should keep in mind though that the desperation in those 12 miles is a minor part of the book.
December 7, 2025
There are many unknown stories to be told about WWII but this is one that could be covered in a short magazine article instead of a book. Overly dramatic, filled with extraneous and barely related information, repetitious, you can easily skip sections without missing anything important. A few interesting characters but barely 2 Stars
November 6, 2022
I listened to the audiobook and it wasn’t that good. It’s much too long for the story it told and could have been shortened by half in my opinion. A whole chapter was devoted to the movie Casablanca which while I understand why it was added it was far too detailed and too long and a few more paragraphs were mentioned about the movie in the Epilogue.
I have a hard time recommending this book.
I have a hard time recommending this book.
April 25, 2012
My WSJ review:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001...
Historians have so thoroughly fished the drama of World War II that it is hard to believe the subject still has prize catches to offer up, but here comes a keeper: Tim Brady's "Twelve Desperate Miles," about Operation Torch in November 1942, when the Allies made their first big move against the Axis Powers by invading ports along the Moroccan, Algerian and Tunisian coasts. The hope was to wrest away the French colonies, then governed by the pro-German Vichy government, and use western North Africa as a base for attacking the Germans to the east. Operation Torch had a more important goal, too: to force the Germans to commit more troops to Africa and the defense of southern Europe, thus taking pressure off the Russians in the east.
The operation's planning and execution involved prominent U.S. Army generals who would eventually play decisive roles in achieving victory less than three years later, including Dwight Eisenhower, George Patton, Mark Clark and Lucian Truscott, the man charged with studying the tactics of British commando forces and creating an American counterpart. The North African landings would be the first test of what Truscott had learned.
Mr. Brady gives us vivid portraits of these major figures, but he also tells the story of some of the lesser-known—though no less interesting—characters who were integral to the success of Operation Torch. Most impressively, he conveys the campaign in an almost novelistic way, bringing seemingly disparate figures and incidents into an engaging narrative.
The book's subtitle, about "the epic World War II voyage of the SS Contessa," refers to a New Orleans-based banana boat of the Standard Fruit Co. that was pressed into wartime service. But the story is about much more than one ship. Three Allied task forces, sailing from America and Britain, eventually delivered 300 ships and 110,000 troops to North Africa.
The forces would pour ashore at landing sites at Casablanca, Oran and Algiers, but one crucial target was a dozen miles inland, up the Sebou River: the Moroccan airfield at Port Lyautey. The Allies needed the airfield to support the attack on Casablanca about 70 miles away, but the Sebou was shallow even at high tide. They would need an experienced pilot to navigate the rivers, and they found him in René Malevergne, a French-born seaman living in Morocco and Mr. Brady's primary character. Malevergne knew every bend and sandbar of the Sebou.
Two years before Operation Torch, Malevergne had been caught up in a failed French Resistance plot in Morocco to smuggle out 40 Belgian pilots. He was indicted for participating in the plot but acquitted by a Vichy court. Mr. Brady uses this earlier episode to introduce Malevergne to the reader and to paint a picture of the tensions in North Africa between the Vichy government, on the one hand, and, on the other, the native-born Moroccans and French citizens there, whose loyalties often belonged to Free France. He also details the North African activities of the Gestapo, the French Resistance, the OSS (America's wartime intelligence service), and the civilians and refugees caught between these warring parties.
After Malevergne's trial and his return to Morocco, he was smuggled out of the country by OSS agents and brought to the U.S. for the naval mission. The Contessa was officially piloted, the author notes, by Capt. William Henry John, a Welsh seaman who had settled in New Orleans after World War I. In 1918, Capt. John had been a 25-year-old navigator on a Royal Navy destroyer that sank a German U-boat in the Mediterranean. Karl Dönitz, a lieutenant on that U-boat who survived the attack, was by 1940 the rear admiral in charge of the German U-boats patrolling the Atlantic.
The Contessa was rushed into service so quickly that it put to sea without most of its usual crew, who were on leave in far-flung places after completing a supply-convoy run to England. Other able seamen were found in Norfolk, Va.—including sailors who had enjoyed their own liberty ashore so enthusiastically that they were being deprived of it at the county jail. Delayed by the crew shortage, the Contessa had to race unescorted to catch up with its convoy in the mid-Atlantic.
Accompanied by the destroyer USS Dallas, the Contessa, carrying 500 tons of volatile airplane fuel and 900 tons of bombs, snaked up the "twelve desperate miles" of the book's title, taking fire from the Vichy French along the way and edging past mines. "To navigate both the fearsome entrance to the Sebou and its shallow, bending path to the port was the work of an expert," Mr. Brady writes. Malevergne's knowledge of tides and the Sebou River proved invaluable as the Allies took Port Lyautey and the airfield—and the Contessa's cargo reached its destination. Many of the details of this tricky journey come from "The Exfiltration of René Malevergne," an unpublished diary of the Frenchman's wartime exploits. Mr. Brady, borrowing the manuscript from the family, makes good use of it.
The successful outcome of Operation Torch may not be a mystery, but Mr. Brady tells the story in a style that will keep readers on the edge of their seats, wondering how a combination of the tides, the French, the Germans, the Allies and pure luck will ultimately play out. In the event, the Vichy French fell quickly—so quickly, in fact, that the Contessa's mission to the airfield, engaging though the story is, turned out to be superfluous. "None of the munitions or gasoline that the Contessa carried up the Sebou were used in Operation Torch," Mr. Brady says. "Not a single P-40 got into the air before hostilities in French Morocco came to a conclusion."
Then why tell the story? One good reason: Operation Torch showed, at a time when U.S. naval prowess in the Atlantic was doubted by many, that America and its allies could set "forces down on a particular series of beaches on a notoriously volatile coastline" and prevail. You close "Twelve Desperate Miles" with a satisfying sense that two years later, on another particular series of beaches on another dangerous coast, all will be well.
Mr. Yost is the author, most recently, of the e-book novel "Soft Target."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001...
Historians have so thoroughly fished the drama of World War II that it is hard to believe the subject still has prize catches to offer up, but here comes a keeper: Tim Brady's "Twelve Desperate Miles," about Operation Torch in November 1942, when the Allies made their first big move against the Axis Powers by invading ports along the Moroccan, Algerian and Tunisian coasts. The hope was to wrest away the French colonies, then governed by the pro-German Vichy government, and use western North Africa as a base for attacking the Germans to the east. Operation Torch had a more important goal, too: to force the Germans to commit more troops to Africa and the defense of southern Europe, thus taking pressure off the Russians in the east.
The operation's planning and execution involved prominent U.S. Army generals who would eventually play decisive roles in achieving victory less than three years later, including Dwight Eisenhower, George Patton, Mark Clark and Lucian Truscott, the man charged with studying the tactics of British commando forces and creating an American counterpart. The North African landings would be the first test of what Truscott had learned.
Mr. Brady gives us vivid portraits of these major figures, but he also tells the story of some of the lesser-known—though no less interesting—characters who were integral to the success of Operation Torch. Most impressively, he conveys the campaign in an almost novelistic way, bringing seemingly disparate figures and incidents into an engaging narrative.
The book's subtitle, about "the epic World War II voyage of the SS Contessa," refers to a New Orleans-based banana boat of the Standard Fruit Co. that was pressed into wartime service. But the story is about much more than one ship. Three Allied task forces, sailing from America and Britain, eventually delivered 300 ships and 110,000 troops to North Africa.
The forces would pour ashore at landing sites at Casablanca, Oran and Algiers, but one crucial target was a dozen miles inland, up the Sebou River: the Moroccan airfield at Port Lyautey. The Allies needed the airfield to support the attack on Casablanca about 70 miles away, but the Sebou was shallow even at high tide. They would need an experienced pilot to navigate the rivers, and they found him in René Malevergne, a French-born seaman living in Morocco and Mr. Brady's primary character. Malevergne knew every bend and sandbar of the Sebou.
Two years before Operation Torch, Malevergne had been caught up in a failed French Resistance plot in Morocco to smuggle out 40 Belgian pilots. He was indicted for participating in the plot but acquitted by a Vichy court. Mr. Brady uses this earlier episode to introduce Malevergne to the reader and to paint a picture of the tensions in North Africa between the Vichy government, on the one hand, and, on the other, the native-born Moroccans and French citizens there, whose loyalties often belonged to Free France. He also details the North African activities of the Gestapo, the French Resistance, the OSS (America's wartime intelligence service), and the civilians and refugees caught between these warring parties.
After Malevergne's trial and his return to Morocco, he was smuggled out of the country by OSS agents and brought to the U.S. for the naval mission. The Contessa was officially piloted, the author notes, by Capt. William Henry John, a Welsh seaman who had settled in New Orleans after World War I. In 1918, Capt. John had been a 25-year-old navigator on a Royal Navy destroyer that sank a German U-boat in the Mediterranean. Karl Dönitz, a lieutenant on that U-boat who survived the attack, was by 1940 the rear admiral in charge of the German U-boats patrolling the Atlantic.
The Contessa was rushed into service so quickly that it put to sea without most of its usual crew, who were on leave in far-flung places after completing a supply-convoy run to England. Other able seamen were found in Norfolk, Va.—including sailors who had enjoyed their own liberty ashore so enthusiastically that they were being deprived of it at the county jail. Delayed by the crew shortage, the Contessa had to race unescorted to catch up with its convoy in the mid-Atlantic.
Accompanied by the destroyer USS Dallas, the Contessa, carrying 500 tons of volatile airplane fuel and 900 tons of bombs, snaked up the "twelve desperate miles" of the book's title, taking fire from the Vichy French along the way and edging past mines. "To navigate both the fearsome entrance to the Sebou and its shallow, bending path to the port was the work of an expert," Mr. Brady writes. Malevergne's knowledge of tides and the Sebou River proved invaluable as the Allies took Port Lyautey and the airfield—and the Contessa's cargo reached its destination. Many of the details of this tricky journey come from "The Exfiltration of René Malevergne," an unpublished diary of the Frenchman's wartime exploits. Mr. Brady, borrowing the manuscript from the family, makes good use of it.
The successful outcome of Operation Torch may not be a mystery, but Mr. Brady tells the story in a style that will keep readers on the edge of their seats, wondering how a combination of the tides, the French, the Germans, the Allies and pure luck will ultimately play out. In the event, the Vichy French fell quickly—so quickly, in fact, that the Contessa's mission to the airfield, engaging though the story is, turned out to be superfluous. "None of the munitions or gasoline that the Contessa carried up the Sebou were used in Operation Torch," Mr. Brady says. "Not a single P-40 got into the air before hostilities in French Morocco came to a conclusion."
Then why tell the story? One good reason: Operation Torch showed, at a time when U.S. naval prowess in the Atlantic was doubted by many, that America and its allies could set "forces down on a particular series of beaches on a notoriously volatile coastline" and prevail. You close "Twelve Desperate Miles" with a satisfying sense that two years later, on another particular series of beaches on another dangerous coast, all will be well.
Mr. Yost is the author, most recently, of the e-book novel "Soft Target."
March 20, 2022
This one took me a while to finish. Didn't really love the writing and it took a while to move things along. Just not compellingly written. I wanted to like it more because it is a true story with many moving parts.
April 2, 2013
It's been a while since I read a book with a military theme, but my curiosity was piqued by the following blurb on the book's jacket cover:
After spending a relaxing weekend enjoying this story, I came away feeling that my review should be a "tale of two books": the one that Tim Brady wrote, and the one the Crown Publishing marketing department sold. Both are good books, but they aren't the same.
First of all, the book that is written is excellent. Brady is a great story-teller, and weaves a fascinating tale of America's first World War II battle in the European theater centered on some of the more obscure characters and events involved. At times he may go into more detail than some readers will prefer, but I appreciated the immersion into the world of 1940's Morocco, as I shared in the anxiety of ordinary soldiers and civilians on the brink of imminent war.
While the SS Contessa does figure prominently in the story, the scope of Brady's book is much larger. He takes readers through the politics and preparations behind Operation Torch (the Allied assault on Northern Africa) as well as the logistical nightmares and insufficient training that made the attack such a risky proposition. We learn why it was necessary for the U.S. Armed Forces to draft a "banana boat" from the Standard Fruit Company into military service, and fill it with crewmen from the Norfolk County Jail — there simply weren't enough resources and personnel available (with the United States already heavily engaged in the Pacific Theater) for the largest naval mission ever launched to that point in history.
To me, though, the ending seemed anti-climactic. The Contessa's journey of "twelve desperate miles" up the Sebou River ended up lasting only a few pages at the end of the book, and I guess I'd expected more. That said, I don't think Brady needed to change anything he wrote. The space designated for the Contessa's role in the invasion is probably roughly proportional to her importance in the scope of Operation Torch, which is to say, not much.
But, like I've said, I thoroughly enjoyed the story. The "problem" with the ending has nothing to do with the way it was written, and everything to do with my expectations leading into this book... which brings up the "second book" — the one advertised by the marketing department.
When I read of comparisons to The Dirty Dozen and Band of Brothers, I expected the book's focus to be relatively narrow, something of a human interest story. Inmates from a local jail chosen to serve in a special mission? Great! What were they like? How did they go about their work? What happened to them afterward?
We never really learn the answers to these questions because the "gang of ex-cons" mentioned on the front cover simply don't figure prominently into the story. The crew members taken from the jail weren't hardened criminals, but sailors serving time for partying a little too hard on shore leave, and by all accounts, they performed their duties admirably and without incident. So while the fact that they were needed at all is an interesting historical tidbit, they aren't the story here.
With all due respect to Hollywood, real life often provides better drama than fiction. This book didn't need to tell the story of these men to be a page-turner. And while credit goes to the marketing department for getting the book in my hands (after all, I might not have bought it in the first place without the intriguing subtitle and jacket blurbs), the story works better as the book Brady wrote than the one I thought I was buying.
If you're into military history, I think you'll appreciate this one. If you're looking for something that really is a real-life version of The Dirty Dozen, you'll probably be disappointed. Buy it here .
The Dirty Dozen meets Band of Brothers in this true story of how a rusty old New Orleans banana boat and an unlikely crew of international merchant seamen, a gang of inmates from a local jail, and a French harbor pilot spirited out of Morocco in the trunk of a Chevy by OSS agents were drafted into service in WWII — and heroically succeeded in setting the stage for Patton's epic invasion of North Africa.
After spending a relaxing weekend enjoying this story, I came away feeling that my review should be a "tale of two books": the one that Tim Brady wrote, and the one the Crown Publishing marketing department sold. Both are good books, but they aren't the same.
First of all, the book that is written is excellent. Brady is a great story-teller, and weaves a fascinating tale of America's first World War II battle in the European theater centered on some of the more obscure characters and events involved. At times he may go into more detail than some readers will prefer, but I appreciated the immersion into the world of 1940's Morocco, as I shared in the anxiety of ordinary soldiers and civilians on the brink of imminent war.
While the SS Contessa does figure prominently in the story, the scope of Brady's book is much larger. He takes readers through the politics and preparations behind Operation Torch (the Allied assault on Northern Africa) as well as the logistical nightmares and insufficient training that made the attack such a risky proposition. We learn why it was necessary for the U.S. Armed Forces to draft a "banana boat" from the Standard Fruit Company into military service, and fill it with crewmen from the Norfolk County Jail — there simply weren't enough resources and personnel available (with the United States already heavily engaged in the Pacific Theater) for the largest naval mission ever launched to that point in history.
To me, though, the ending seemed anti-climactic. The Contessa's journey of "twelve desperate miles" up the Sebou River ended up lasting only a few pages at the end of the book, and I guess I'd expected more. That said, I don't think Brady needed to change anything he wrote. The space designated for the Contessa's role in the invasion is probably roughly proportional to her importance in the scope of Operation Torch, which is to say, not much.
But, like I've said, I thoroughly enjoyed the story. The "problem" with the ending has nothing to do with the way it was written, and everything to do with my expectations leading into this book... which brings up the "second book" — the one advertised by the marketing department.
When I read of comparisons to The Dirty Dozen and Band of Brothers, I expected the book's focus to be relatively narrow, something of a human interest story. Inmates from a local jail chosen to serve in a special mission? Great! What were they like? How did they go about their work? What happened to them afterward?
We never really learn the answers to these questions because the "gang of ex-cons" mentioned on the front cover simply don't figure prominently into the story. The crew members taken from the jail weren't hardened criminals, but sailors serving time for partying a little too hard on shore leave, and by all accounts, they performed their duties admirably and without incident. So while the fact that they were needed at all is an interesting historical tidbit, they aren't the story here.
With all due respect to Hollywood, real life often provides better drama than fiction. This book didn't need to tell the story of these men to be a page-turner. And while credit goes to the marketing department for getting the book in my hands (after all, I might not have bought it in the first place without the intriguing subtitle and jacket blurbs), the story works better as the book Brady wrote than the one I thought I was buying.
If you're into military history, I think you'll appreciate this one. If you're looking for something that really is a real-life version of The Dirty Dozen, you'll probably be disappointed. Buy it here .
February 20, 2018
The back cover states, “Twelve Desperate Miles is a surprising and entertaining account of one of the great untold stories of the war.” I agree completely. It changes the images stamped in minds of what it was like then and does so in an entertaining way.
History can be dry and painstakingly boring when the focus is on facts, dates, and documenting. But put that information into the hands of a masterful storyteller, and history leaps off the pages and becomes the reader’s time machine. Even knowing the eventual outcome doesn’t matter as it would in a mystery novel. The joy of watching it unfold becomes the focus. Like the saying: reaching the destination is not as important as discovering the joy in the journey. Brady accomplishes that in this account of how an insignificant banana boat did more than it was designed to do and played a significant role in changing the course of World War II.
One reference in the book shaded credibility, however. Brady mentions an incident with details that match Operation Mincemeat, which was a clandestine operation intended to give the Germans misinformation on where a major Allied landing would occur. You can read about it in a book by the same name. Either another event had actually happened, and Operation Mincemeat tried to simulate it, or Brady’s research did not uncover the ruse. Plus, Operation Mincemeat didn’t play out until nearly a year after the North Africa invasion, so it wouldn’t have been in anyone’s minds adding to their angst.
My favorite part of the book is its cutting through the bravado of our entry into the war, showing how much we went limping and stumbling until we were able to get war machinery production up to the level we needed to make a permanent difference. I’m afraid the heroism of the first men into battle is not told enough. Thank you, Brady, for this contribution to correct that.
History can be dry and painstakingly boring when the focus is on facts, dates, and documenting. But put that information into the hands of a masterful storyteller, and history leaps off the pages and becomes the reader’s time machine. Even knowing the eventual outcome doesn’t matter as it would in a mystery novel. The joy of watching it unfold becomes the focus. Like the saying: reaching the destination is not as important as discovering the joy in the journey. Brady accomplishes that in this account of how an insignificant banana boat did more than it was designed to do and played a significant role in changing the course of World War II.
One reference in the book shaded credibility, however. Brady mentions an incident with details that match Operation Mincemeat, which was a clandestine operation intended to give the Germans misinformation on where a major Allied landing would occur. You can read about it in a book by the same name. Either another event had actually happened, and Operation Mincemeat tried to simulate it, or Brady’s research did not uncover the ruse. Plus, Operation Mincemeat didn’t play out until nearly a year after the North Africa invasion, so it wouldn’t have been in anyone’s minds adding to their angst.
My favorite part of the book is its cutting through the bravado of our entry into the war, showing how much we went limping and stumbling until we were able to get war machinery production up to the level we needed to make a permanent difference. I’m afraid the heroism of the first men into battle is not told enough. Thank you, Brady, for this contribution to correct that.
December 5, 2021
I was on page 97 out of 284 when I realized "Wait, why am I reading about a history of Morocco and French influence? What does this have to do with anything?" It is that later question which has led me to abandon reading this book.
Operation Torch (and the rest of the North Africa campaign) are heavily overshadowed in military history by D-Day and the war in Europe. It is a shame because the soldiers who fought and died in Morocco did so with the same valor as those who died in France, and their stories deserve to be told as well. This book is an attempt to tell the tale of Rene Maleverge, a Frenchman in Morocco who was smuggled out of the country before returning in the invasion to pilot a risky resupply mission.
It sounds very interesting. Unfortunately, thanks to mediocre writing and poor pacing, it isn't. The book feels like a disconnected series of events, detailing lots of little facts but failing to connect them. I reiterate: "Why am I reading about a history of Morocco?" The book is filled with these four or five page tangents that go nowhere and don't support anything.
Additionally, the book suffers from overambition. It attempts to explain both the personal stories of the people involved as well as the overall strategies and decisions by generals. It is possible to do this well, but not in a 300 page book filled with useless tangents.
I came here looking for something akin to Hornfischer's work. I suppose I should not be surprised I did not find it.
Did not finish.
Operation Torch (and the rest of the North Africa campaign) are heavily overshadowed in military history by D-Day and the war in Europe. It is a shame because the soldiers who fought and died in Morocco did so with the same valor as those who died in France, and their stories deserve to be told as well. This book is an attempt to tell the tale of Rene Maleverge, a Frenchman in Morocco who was smuggled out of the country before returning in the invasion to pilot a risky resupply mission.
It sounds very interesting. Unfortunately, thanks to mediocre writing and poor pacing, it isn't. The book feels like a disconnected series of events, detailing lots of little facts but failing to connect them. I reiterate: "Why am I reading about a history of Morocco?" The book is filled with these four or five page tangents that go nowhere and don't support anything.
Additionally, the book suffers from overambition. It attempts to explain both the personal stories of the people involved as well as the overall strategies and decisions by generals. It is possible to do this well, but not in a 300 page book filled with useless tangents.
I came here looking for something akin to Hornfischer's work. I suppose I should not be surprised I did not find it.
Did not finish.
October 1, 2024
History buffs probably know that General Patton made his name with tanks in Africa, but who knew about the D-Day operation that got him and his tanks there all well before the D-Day operation in Normandy that most of us know so well. 'Twelve Miles to Freedom' is about the planning, preparation and execution of that invasion, which took place August 8-11, 1942.
The Contessa was a Standard Fruit banana cargo ship and luxury cruise ship (with mahogany decks and all) that began Caribbean luxury cruising and played a very minor role in the invasion. The author or publisher pushes the story in the book description even though the ship and its Captain were inconsequential to the battle's outcome. The author or publisher also stress the 'jailed prisoners as crew' aspect of the story and this minor aspect also proves to be insignificant because many of the ship's real merchant crew had begun five days liberty but the ship was needed sooner, so sailors locked up for drunk and disorderly behavior or frequenting prostitutes were recruited from the jail to become crew, hardly unusual for merchant sailors anywhere in the world. This very minor aspect of the story is trumpeted to make a history of the African invasion of World War Two sound more interesting. Despite this chicanery, I learned quite a bit about World War Two history and found the book worthwhile.
The Contessa was a Standard Fruit banana cargo ship and luxury cruise ship (with mahogany decks and all) that began Caribbean luxury cruising and played a very minor role in the invasion. The author or publisher pushes the story in the book description even though the ship and its Captain were inconsequential to the battle's outcome. The author or publisher also stress the 'jailed prisoners as crew' aspect of the story and this minor aspect also proves to be insignificant because many of the ship's real merchant crew had begun five days liberty but the ship was needed sooner, so sailors locked up for drunk and disorderly behavior or frequenting prostitutes were recruited from the jail to become crew, hardly unusual for merchant sailors anywhere in the world. This very minor aspect of the story is trumpeted to make a history of the African invasion of World War Two sound more interesting. Despite this chicanery, I learned quite a bit about World War Two history and found the book worthwhile.
February 28, 2023
Mixed feelings.
Wartime stories is typically fun for me to read, but honestly this one was difficult to get interested in. Could be an odd season because it is an interested story.
I’ll need to read it again because honestly I couldn’t keep track of Rene Malvergne's role in this operation haha, and he’s mentioned from the beginning to the end. (Sorry Rene lol)
It was fun hearing if the backgrounds of certain people (like Payton) and hearing of the background to the “Casablanca” movie (unfortunately for the story and the author but fortunately for me that was the most interesting part)
I’m sure it’s a good book and a good story, but don’t take my word on my review this time. I’m not a writer but I felt it could’ve been written more compelling, especially in some of the good parts, but I don’t know. I’ll read it in a few years or so to try again haha.
Wartime stories is typically fun for me to read, but honestly this one was difficult to get interested in. Could be an odd season because it is an interested story.
I’ll need to read it again because honestly I couldn’t keep track of Rene Malvergne's role in this operation haha, and he’s mentioned from the beginning to the end. (Sorry Rene lol)
It was fun hearing if the backgrounds of certain people (like Payton) and hearing of the background to the “Casablanca” movie (unfortunately for the story and the author but fortunately for me that was the most interesting part)
I’m sure it’s a good book and a good story, but don’t take my word on my review this time. I’m not a writer but I felt it could’ve been written more compelling, especially in some of the good parts, but I don’t know. I’ll read it in a few years or so to try again haha.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 29, 2020
Solid story of the US invasion of Morocco in WW2. We see General Patton as he makes the case for the invasion - the Brits saw no need to invade North Africa from the Atlantic - and leads the effort to carry it out. The title is a bit misleading as I expected the SS Contessa to be the "star" of the invasion. It played an important role - but was it epic? I wonder if he the author had really focused on the Contessa and developed its characters a little more if this might have been a more enjoyable read.
January 9, 2019
It felt padded in spots--like the auhtor didn't really have enough material for a whole book. And yet a lot of this ground was covered in another book I read recently, Destination Casablanca, which told a more expansive story of the reality of life in Casablanca at the start of WWII. I much preferred that book. People who are more interested in a play by play of military movements and battles would probably prefer this one.
February 14, 2022
Brady's other books were much more interesting and dealt with far more intriguing stories. I don't think I would have read those books had I started with this one. It is not that it is not well researched...far from that entirely. However, it seems every fact the author found is put into this volume and it slows down any narrative he attempts to create. It just doesn't hold he attention of the reader.
November 25, 2023
This was a little known story of a ‘banana boat’ that before WWII had literally transported passengers and bananas. She was pressed into service as a shallow draft boat to transport aviation gasoline and bombs for the invasion of North Africa. The US needed a boat that could carry a heavy load and still travel inland for miles from the ocean up a shallow river. Mission was accomplished and the boat remained in military and later civilian use for years afterward.
January 15, 2024
This was a fantastic book and the writing carried it. I surprised myself when I chose to read it because it's not a topic that I would necessarily be drawn to. But I loved how the author gave the backstory of everything. Every person, every place was given dedicated space to explore their story before the days when the events of this book took place. I would definitely read more books by this author.
December 8, 2020
Excellent, quick read looking at the opening of the North African campaign through the eyes of the crew of one small freighter and a French pilot there to guide them to their destination. It has spies and intrigue, a Dirty Dozen type of crew, and America's first offensive operation on the Atlantic side of the War.
March 9, 2023
The book seemed to bake in too much unneeded detail. I get the impression that the source material didn't really allow for a long book but they wanted one anyway. It's not bad, but I don't really care about the history of Casablanca (the film) or Walter Cronkite if they don't tie back to the focus of the book.
June 12, 2023
This is a good book on America's entry into WWII against the Axis countries. The story is based on the SS Contessa but we know many of the other players ( Patton, Eisenhower, Marshall ) Rene is the star of this book in my opinion but Tim brings many players together to provide a good story! Enjoy the read.
November 28, 2025
Amazing story. I'm not sure that the author understood how ballsy (or foolhardy) it was for the USS Dallas to run the bar on an ebbing tide at first light. You have a strong flowing river, augmented by the outflow from the tide, hitting an onshore swell, and you will get standing waves several metres high crashing onto the bar. The ship can broach in conditions like that. They were lucky as hell!
February 25, 2024
so much more than the title
Only about 1/4 of the book deals with the SS Contessa; rather its focus is on the American plans, preparations and execution of the taking of Morocco in 1942. It was an excellent read, well researched and documented.
Only about 1/4 of the book deals with the SS Contessa; rather its focus is on the American plans, preparations and execution of the taking of Morocco in 1942. It was an excellent read, well researched and documented.
January 20, 2019
The first half of the book was an informative, sometimes tedious history lesson. It really picked up in the last half & I couldn't put down !
May 17, 2022
Got a few pages in, was distracted by a shiny object, and picked this book up again yesterday. Didn't get much sleep last night and have no regrets. Very well written. Great story. Highly recommend.
February 6, 2023
A fascinating story encompassing so many different aspects of WWII. Sparks a lot of interest in other parts of the war that I hadn't considered before.
March 15, 2023
Interesting history book about WWII
February 28, 2024
Interesting topic, fast, entertaining read.
March 18, 2024
a fun and fascinating read on a little known aspect of WWII. An inspiration as ordinary people doing extraordinary things when circumstances demand.
June 20, 2025
What should have been a couple of hours read took days. This book was so hard to read through it was boring and could have been cut in half if all the useless over detailing was taken out
December 29, 2016
Well researched and fast moving. This was a really enjoyable read.
June 16, 2025
I purchased my copy of this book used in hardback at the Friends of the LSU Library book sale in Baton Rouge, LA in March 2022. I'm not sure why it has taken me over three years to get around to reading this title. I found the book enjoyable. It's about Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of North Africa in late 1942, specifically the invasion of Morocco by US forces. The book covers the background and planning of the invasion, featuring colorful historical figures like Patton and Marshall. The book weaves the larger planning for the invasion together with the story of the "Contessa", a "banana boat" used for carrying passengers and fruit between South America and New Orleans. When WW2 begins, the "Contessa" is initially pressed into service carrying war cargo between the US and Britain. But then the little ship is tapped for a crucial role in the invasion of Morocco: carrying supplies up the twisting and shallow Sebou river to resupply an airfield. Lastly, the book follows the story of a French river pilot on the Sebou river, who after being jailed in Morocco by the Vichy French authorities on suspicion of espionage, is recruited by the OSS to guide the "Contessa" on its perilous mission. I learned a lot from the book since I knew little about Operation Torch and the book provides a good overview. Four out of five stars.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews