Operation Long Jump: Stalin, Roosevelt, Churchill, and the Greatest Assassination Plot in History

by Bill Yenne

In the middle of World War II, Nazi military intelligence discovered a seemingly easy way to win the war for Adolf Hitler. The three heads of the Allied forces—Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Josef Stalin—were planning to meet in Tehran in October, 1943. Under Hitler's personal direction, the Nazis launched “Operation Long Jump,” an intricate plan to track the Allied leaders in Tehran and assassinate all three men at the same time. “I suppose it would make a pretty good haul if they could get all three of us,” Roosevelt later said. Historian Bill Yenne retells the incredible, globe-spanning story of the most ambitious assassination plot ever thwarted in Operation Long Jump .

Genres: History, Nonfiction, War, World War II, Military History, Germany, Military Fiction

226 pages, Hardcover

First published September 21, 2015

About the author

Bill Yenne is the author of several novels and over three dozen books on historical topics. He has also been a contributor to encyclopedias of both world wars.

The New Yorker wrote of Sitting Bull, his biography of the great Lakota leader, that it "excels as a study in leadership." This book was named to the number 14 spot among Amazon's 100 Best Books of the Year.

Library Journal observed that "enthusiastic World War II readers will be drawn to" his dual biography, Aces High: The Heroic Story of the Two Top Scoring American Aces of World War II.

Recently, his book Convair Deltas was named as Book of the Month by Air Classics, while his book Tommy Gun was named Pick of the Month by Shooting Illustrated.

His book Guinness: The 250 Year Quest for the Perfect Pint was listed among the top business books of the year by Cond Nast Portfolio Magazine, which rated Yenne's tome as its TOP pick for "Cocktail Conversation."

Yenne's Rising Sons: The Japanese American GIs Who Fought for the United States in World War II, was praised by Walter Boyne, former Director of the National Air & Space Museum, who called it "a fast moving... page turner," and the "best book yet written on the saga."

The Wall Street Journal wrote, when reviewing his Indian Wars: The Campaign for the American West, that Yenne writes with "cinematic vividness," and says of his work that it "has the rare quality of being both an excellent reference work and a pleasure to read."

The author lives in San Francisco, California, and on the web at www.BillYenne.com

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Reviews

[Maziyar Yf · Rating 2 out of 5]

با تشکر از آقای نویسنده ، جناب بیل ین که یک ماجرای جذاب هالیوودی رابه یک کتاب خسته کننده ولی عالی برای آماده شدن برای خواب ! تبدیل کرد
چون عملیات قرار بود در تهران انجام بشود ، نویسنده به شرح توصیفاتی هم از تهران پرداخته که آن هم نکته خاصی هم ندارد . اما بر اسای همین داستان ، فیلمی ساخته شده (متاسفانه الان نام آن را به خاطر ندارم ) که بر عکس کتاب بسیار هیجان انگیز و قابل تامل هست و تماشای این فیلم بسیار بهتر از مطالعه چنین کتابی هست .

[Cold War Conversations Podcast · Rating 2 out of 5]

A confusing but fascinating secret history.

Operation Long Jump was an alleged German plan to simultaneously assassinate Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill, and Franklin Roosevelt at the 1943 Tehran Conference during World War II.

Bill Yenne appears to have unearthed a great tale here, but it’s difficult to tell how much of this book is based on fact, hearsay or supposition as although there’s a bibliography there’s no clear reference to sources.

He covers well the interesting history of the joint Soviet and Allied occupation of Iran and Yenne’s writing style is easy to read. However, with the large cast of characters involved the author did make it tough going at times.

Overall an interesting subject that could have been delivered in a more coherent way.

[Bahman Bahman · Rating 2 out of 5]

" ایران یکی از آن جاهایی است که شاید بتوان گفت: «این سرزمین آخر دنیا نیست، اما برای رسیدن به آن باید از آخر دنیا گذشت.» برای دستیابی به تصویری از ایران آن روزها به زحمت در صندلی عقب اتومبیل جان گانتر۳۱ می نشینیم و همراه او به ایران اواخر دههٔ ۱۹۳۰ (دههٔ ۱۳۱۰ هجری) سفر می کنیم. گانتر در سال ۱۹۳۶ کتاب محبوب و اثرگذار در درون اروپا را منتشر کرد. او ادامهٔ این کتاب را در سال ۱۹۳۹با نام در درون آسیا منتشر کرد که در آن از ایران به عنوان یکی از توقفگاه های خود سخن گفته است. گانتر می نویسد: «ورود به ایران تکان دهنده است. آسیای واقعی اینجاست، اینجا آسیا عریان پیش چشمان شماست. این همان مأمن باشکوه و تسخیرناپذیر در دل دنیای اسلام است. اتومبیل دو سه روز پیچ وتاب خوران و غژغژکنان از سراشیبی ها بالا می رود و پایین می لغزد و در گذر از گذرگاه های ترسناک بین بغداد تا تهران تلوتلوخوران در میان گل ولای از روی شکاف ها و ریزش کوه ها می گذرد و پیش می رود. در راه به روستاهایی می رسد که گویی از گذشتهٔ دور، از همان دوران خشایار شاه، تاکنون اندک تغییری نداشته اند، و سرزمینی فیروزه ای رنگ و رگه دار چون پنیر گورگونزولا و سخت چون سنگ خارا را پشت سر می نهد.» به لحاظ جغرافیایی این سرزمین فیروزه ای رنگ از دشت های لم یزرع آسیای مرکزی تا خلیج فارس کشیده شده است. جایی که از حدود هزار سال پیش در دوران شکوفایی جادهٔ ابریشم به بعد دیگر تقریبا بر سر راه هیچ جای دیگری نبوده است. به لحاظ تاریخی' تاریخ ایران به روزگار ایلامیان در هزارهٔ چهارم قبل از میلاد برمی گردد و یکی از قدیمی ترین تمدن های جهان است. از نظر مذهبی' ایران از قرن هفتم به بعد مسلمان بوده است، گرچه نفوذ و قدرت روحانیون پیوسته در طول تاریخ فرازوفرودهایی داشته است. از منظر سیاسی' ایران در قرن ششم پیش از میلاد هنگامی که کورش کبیر امپراتوری بزرگ هخامنشی را بنیان نهاد و قرن بعد، وقتی که خشایار شاه یونان را به تسخیر درآورد، به بالاترین جایگاه خود رسید. پس ازآن که یونانیان بار دیگر کشورشان را بازپس گرفتند، خورشید امپراتوری عظیم هخامنشی رو به افول نهاد، اما همچنان برپا بود تا آنکه اسکندر مقدونی با شکست داریوش سوم در سال ۳۳۳ قبل از میلاد به عمر آن پایان داد. از آن تاریخ به بعد ایران - که یونانیان آن را پارس می خواندند، و در غرب به همین نام باقی ماند - آرام آرام در هاله ای از ابهام فرو رفت. در قرن نوزدهم' ایران به یکی از پیاده های صفحهٔ شطرنج «بازی بزرگان» تبدیل شده بود، یک دولت حائل - یکی دیگر از این دولت های حائل افغانستان بود - در رقابت راهبردی بین امپراتوری روسیه در شمال و امپراتوری بریتانیا در جنوب، که بر کشور همسایه یعنی هندوستان حکومت می کرد، قرار داشت."

[Bobbi]

While the premise of this book was good, the writing was not and I couldn't finish it. When an author spends as much time as Yenne did on background and history of every person and location mentioned, it sometimes means there's not much meat left and that seems to be the case here.

[Ali Shahab · Rating 4 out of 5]

ایده‌ای در مورد این‌که این ماجرا تا چه اندازه واقعی است ندارم؛ اما این کتاب، داستان جاسوسی جذاب و گیرایی را با ترجمه‌ی بسیارخوب ارائه داده‌. ضمنا می‌شود جسته و گریخته اطلاعات خوبی درباره‌ی ایران و تهران آن روزها به‌دست آورد.

[Brian Carrigan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Avery good book

[Michael Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

A hard read. Too many people and their basic histories are presented and repeated over and over. Too many people were involved in this aspect of WWII espionage and they ALL get their moments in the tale. The area of Iran (Persia) was very Nazi oriented in WWII. But the British had oil concerns and the Russians needed Lend Lease so they occupied the country so that the US Army could rebuild a rail line to supply war materials year round from the south. In 1943 the three allied leaders chose Tehran for a meeting. They knew the Germans had allies in country but the Russians started a full scale roundup. What was not known at first was that the Germans were sending an assassination unit. Once this became known the circus began. Everybody made mistakes but no more so than the Germans. In the end the effort failed. And we have a nice record of this despite the long overly detailed biographies and personality studies of the participants.

[Quesenberrys · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is an awful book. Horribly-written, with terrible editing. It is a story that is appropriately a footnote in history. There is simply not enough material, not enough story, to make a book. Almost a total waste of time.

[Sandi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very interesting what if story about an operation to kill the big three Roosevelt Churchill and Stalin when they were at Tehran

[Jason · Rating 1 out of 5]

Here's my problem with the book. When I was finished I still was not clear what caused Operation Long Jump to fail. It's the entire point of the book and it wasn't obvious, at least not to me. I did enjoy the "what if" scenarios at the end, but when I got to that portion it became clear that the reporting on the failure of the operation was complete and I had completely missed it. I felt like I had to slog my way through this one, force myself to read it.

I kept thinking, if Bill O'Reilly wrote this book it would be much better. Killing the Big 3. Obviously they weren't killed, but hey, neither was Reagan and that's still in the Killing Series.

[Cid Stoll · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was fascinating, particularly the last few chapters, which detailed what happened to all those involved in the plot. The story of the assassination plot is challenging, due mostly to names and places that are not familiar to most readers. But if you’re a WWII buff, or appreciate books of history, hang in there. Operation Long Jump will keep you interested. It’s well researched, well written and flows well through all of the back door, sideways, spy vs. spy tactics used in espionage at the time.

[Hubert · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pierwszy rozdział książki to czysta historia alternatywna którą polecam pominąć.
Pozostała część jest napisana poprawnie oraz szczegółowo.

Skierowane głównie do miłośników historii lub fascynatów II wojny światowej.

[Jordon · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3.5) A bit tedious and stretched out, but nonetheless, an interesting story of the past about which most people know nothing of.

[Joe Bedell · Rating 3 out of 5]

A hot mess

Interesting footnote to history, but at most Yenne has enough material for an article in a scholarly journal. Very confusing to follow and hugely anticlimactic.

[Vinayak Malik · Rating 3 out of 5]

So near yet so far as far as the plan goes. As for the narrative , the sheer number of characters and their backgrounds made me thin i'm reading the genealogy of LOTR

[Siyavash · Rating 1 out of 5]

داستان و ترجمه خوب�� نداشت این کتاب، خیلی بی سر و ته بود

[John-Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Prior to reading this book, I had no idea that there ever was a plot against the Big Three at this conference. I do remember thinking during my student years that it was very risky for Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin to go meeting in places like Tehran and Yalta but I didn't know there was an actual well-developed plot to assassinate all three of them. Yenne does an excellent job with the introduction (it's a thriller!) and gives good background into all the major players as the book goes on. It was interesting getting a behind-the-scenes look at how each of the Big Three worked and got along with each other (it must have been repugnant for FDR and Churchill to have to work with Stalin, who was engineering more butchery than Hitler was in Germany).

However, what's interesting is that the plot itself, Operation Long Jump, was not nearly as interesting to read about as the conference itself. The operation appears to have been a total screw up pretty much from the start, as the Allies intercepted communication (and got their hands on a key person involved purely by accident) and were always two steps ahead of the Nazis and their Iranian co-conspirators. The operation was doomed at that point and so after quickly wrapping that part of the book up, Yenne spends a bit of time (probably too much) at the end talking about "what might have happened". Here I think the best part was discussing how the Cold War would have been shaped if FDR's VP, Henry Wallace, would have become president. It's clear that he was strongly pro-Soviet and seems to have mistrusted the very economic structure upon which his own country (and the country whose laws he would have been sworn to uphold) was built, so we could have seen a VERY different post-war America taking shape. For all his shortcomings, I think I'm pretty glad ol' FDR survived!

Overall a good book for any fans of lesser-known aspects of WWII and those who enjoy alternate history.

[Mhorg · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent book that once again shines a light on the simple fact that for an organized people, sometimes the Germans couldn't get out of their own way. An elaborate plot, trusting one another (which didn't work), the Iranians (also less than adequate) and finally, fate (which is too unforgiving). It's amazing from reading this book that the Allies existed at all. Worth reading, it's a look at an action that had it succeeded, might have extended the war a few years (oddly enough, only the US had a set up to replace a President who died or was assassinated), but it was already too late for Nazi Germany.

[Mohammadreza khodabakhshi · Rating 4 out of 5]

اگه تاریخ معاصر ایران براتون جذابه میشه گفت این یکی از بهترین کتابایی هستش که راجع به یه برهه خاص و حساس از تاریخ معاصر ایران نوشته‌شده.

داستان در مورد برگزاری جلسه بین سران ابرقدرت های جهان یعنی آمریکا و انگلیس و روسیه است که داخل ایران اتفاق میوفته و تو این جلسه قرار میذارن که داخل ایران نیروهای آلمانی رو سرکوب کنن

کتاب قشنگیه

راستی من این کتاب رو تو طاقچه خوندم اینم لینکش :
https://taaghche.com/book/114298

[Michael Kotsarinis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ένα βιβλίο για μια ξεχασμένη αλλά πολύ σημαντική πτυχή του Β' ΠΠ. Τα γεγονότα έχουν επαρκή τεκμηρίωση αν και η έκταση τους είναι μικρή αυτή καθεαυτή. Πολύ ωραία στοιχεία όμως για τη γενικότερη κατάσταση και το ιστορικό πλαίσιο συμπληρώνουν το βιβλίο. Αν η αφήγηση ήταν λίγο πιο "κινηματογραφική" και όχι τόσο πεζή, θα του έβαζα και παραπάνω.

[Tom F · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating read about a little-known assassination plot that, if carried out, would have re-written the course of world history.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Labyrinthine and fascinating. Factual and anecdotal perspectives of a crucial, pivotal point in the later stages of the Second World War.