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Believable Lies: The Misfits Who Fought Churchill's Secret Propaganda War
Brought to you by Penguin.
Meet the misfits and mavericks who waged psychological warfare against the Nazis.
September, 1939. While Britain hovered on the brink of the Second World War, a team of unlikely and ill-assorted characters assembled in their secret headquarters. They had left their civilian roles as politicians, journalists, novelists and spies, advertisers, artists and even forgers, to work for a covert government organisation. Their to weaken enemy morale, sow confusion and encourage resistance. In the ‘hush-hush’ village of Aspley Guise near Woburn Abbey (8 miles from the codebreakers at Bletchley Park), they set to work.
The once top-secret wartime efforts of the Political Warfare Executive were remarkable in their variety and inventiveness – from pornographic leaflet drops to rumour campaigns, underground publications and fake French and German radio shows. But to break Nazi morale, these men and women found themselves skirting the edges of their own morality. What do you lose when you deploy lies – even brilliant, believable lies – to achieve your ends?
Terry Stiastny 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025
Meet the misfits and mavericks who waged psychological warfare against the Nazis.
September, 1939. While Britain hovered on the brink of the Second World War, a team of unlikely and ill-assorted characters assembled in their secret headquarters. They had left their civilian roles as politicians, journalists, novelists and spies, advertisers, artists and even forgers, to work for a covert government organisation. Their to weaken enemy morale, sow confusion and encourage resistance. In the ‘hush-hush’ village of Aspley Guise near Woburn Abbey (8 miles from the codebreakers at Bletchley Park), they set to work.
The once top-secret wartime efforts of the Political Warfare Executive were remarkable in their variety and inventiveness – from pornographic leaflet drops to rumour campaigns, underground publications and fake French and German radio shows. But to break Nazi morale, these men and women found themselves skirting the edges of their own morality. What do you lose when you deploy lies – even brilliant, believable lies – to achieve your ends?
Terry Stiastny 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025
Audible Audio
Published June 12, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
Review of advance copy
This is the second time Goodreads has told me a book I've just finished is yet to be published; once again that is baloney! The hardback copy I read - borrowed from the local public library - was published by WH Allen in 2025. it has the same ISBN as this listing. Get it right, Goodreads!
Not my usual subject choice, but I was tempted because (a) it was the subject of an episode of the 'We Have Ways' podcast and (b) my father was invited to a dance at Woburn Abbey (PWE 'Country HQ') during the war. Regarding (a), the podcast was rather more interesting than the book turned out to be, and (b), not surprisingly I gained no particular insight into my father's invitation, it was just a matter of him being stationed nearby, but it did him no good as the girls only wanted to dance with Americans!
This is undoubtedly a fascinating and little-known aspect of the Second World War. They were certainly a rum lot in the PWE, engaged in back-stabbing and in-fighting as much as taking on the Germans and Italians (the war against the Japanese gets no mention)! I did find much of the political manoeuvring tedious, but the book picks up once it gets to propaganda related to specific events, such as the invasions of Sicily and Normandy and the liberation of Paris. Discussions on the purposes of propaganda and the pros and cons of 'black' versus 'white' variants are also interesting.
Not my usual subject choice, but I was tempted because (a) it was the subject of an episode of the 'We Have Ways' podcast and (b) my father was invited to a dance at Woburn Abbey (PWE 'Country HQ') during the war. Regarding (a), the podcast was rather more interesting than the book turned out to be, and (b), not surprisingly I gained no particular insight into my father's invitation, it was just a matter of him being stationed nearby, but it did him no good as the girls only wanted to dance with Americans!
This is undoubtedly a fascinating and little-known aspect of the Second World War. They were certainly a rum lot in the PWE, engaged in back-stabbing and in-fighting as much as taking on the Germans and Italians (the war against the Japanese gets no mention)! I did find much of the political manoeuvring tedious, but the book picks up once it gets to propaganda related to specific events, such as the invasions of Sicily and Normandy and the liberation of Paris. Discussions on the purposes of propaganda and the pros and cons of 'black' versus 'white' variants are also interesting.
April 16, 2026
This turned out more gripping than I expected. A fascinating insight into the political battles over black and white propaganda during the Second World War. Growing up in the UK, most popular history glosses over the tensions in the coalition cabinet during the war, so this was really revealing.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews