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Scholars of Mayhem: My Father's Secret War in Nazi-Occupied France
Riveting...A true-life mix of James Bond, Lawrence of Arabia and 'Casablanca.'
-The Wall Street Journal
The astonishing untold story of the author's father, the lone American on a four-person team of Allied secret agents dropped into Nazi-occupied France, whose epic feats of irregular warfare proved vital in keeping German tanks away from Normandy after D-Day.
When Daniel Guiet was a child and his family moved country, as they frequently did, his father had one possession, a tin bread box, that always made the trip. Daniel was admonished never to touch the box, but one day he couldn't resist. What he found astonished him: a .45 automatic and five full clips; three slim knives; a length of wire with a wooden handle at each end; thin pieces of paper with random numbers on them; several passports with his father's photograph, each bearing a different name; and silk squares imprinted with different countries' flags, bearing messages in unfamiliar alphabets. The messages, he discovered much later, were variations on a theme: I am an American. Take me to the nearest Allied military office. You will be paid.
Eventually Jean Claude Guiet revealed to his family that he had been in the CIA, but it was only at the very end of his life that he spoke of the mission during World War II that marked the beginning of his career in clandestine service. It is one of the last great untold stories of the war, and Daniel Guiet and his collaborator, the writer Tim Smith, have spent several years bringing it to life. Jean Claude was an American citizen but a child of France, and fluent in the language; he was also extremely bright. The American military was on the lookout for native French speakers to be seconded to a secret British special operations commando operation, dropping clandestine agents behind German lines in France to coordinate aid to the French Resistance and lead missions wreaking havoc on Germany's military efforts across the entire country. Jean Claude was recruited, and his life was changed forever. Though the human cost was terrible, the mission succeeded beyond the Allies' wildest dreams.
Scholars of Mayhem tells the story of Jean Claude and the other three agents in his circuit, codenamed Salesman, a unit of Britain's Special Operations Executive, the secret service ordered by Churchill to Set Europe ablaze. Parachuted into France the day after D-Day, the Salesman team organized, armed, and commanded an underground army of 10,000 French Resistance fighters. National pride has kept the story of SOE in France obscure, but of this there is no doubt: While the Resistance had plenty of heart, it was SOE that gave it teeth and claws. Scholars of Mayhem adds brilliantly to that picture, and further underscores what a close-run thing the success of the Allied breakout from the Normandy landings actually was.
-The Wall Street Journal
The astonishing untold story of the author's father, the lone American on a four-person team of Allied secret agents dropped into Nazi-occupied France, whose epic feats of irregular warfare proved vital in keeping German tanks away from Normandy after D-Day.
When Daniel Guiet was a child and his family moved country, as they frequently did, his father had one possession, a tin bread box, that always made the trip. Daniel was admonished never to touch the box, but one day he couldn't resist. What he found astonished him: a .45 automatic and five full clips; three slim knives; a length of wire with a wooden handle at each end; thin pieces of paper with random numbers on them; several passports with his father's photograph, each bearing a different name; and silk squares imprinted with different countries' flags, bearing messages in unfamiliar alphabets. The messages, he discovered much later, were variations on a theme: I am an American. Take me to the nearest Allied military office. You will be paid.
Eventually Jean Claude Guiet revealed to his family that he had been in the CIA, but it was only at the very end of his life that he spoke of the mission during World War II that marked the beginning of his career in clandestine service. It is one of the last great untold stories of the war, and Daniel Guiet and his collaborator, the writer Tim Smith, have spent several years bringing it to life. Jean Claude was an American citizen but a child of France, and fluent in the language; he was also extremely bright. The American military was on the lookout for native French speakers to be seconded to a secret British special operations commando operation, dropping clandestine agents behind German lines in France to coordinate aid to the French Resistance and lead missions wreaking havoc on Germany's military efforts across the entire country. Jean Claude was recruited, and his life was changed forever. Though the human cost was terrible, the mission succeeded beyond the Allies' wildest dreams.
Scholars of Mayhem tells the story of Jean Claude and the other three agents in his circuit, codenamed Salesman, a unit of Britain's Special Operations Executive, the secret service ordered by Churchill to Set Europe ablaze. Parachuted into France the day after D-Day, the Salesman team organized, armed, and commanded an underground army of 10,000 French Resistance fighters. National pride has kept the story of SOE in France obscure, but of this there is no doubt: While the Resistance had plenty of heart, it was SOE that gave it teeth and claws. Scholars of Mayhem adds brilliantly to that picture, and further underscores what a close-run thing the success of the Allied breakout from the Normandy landings actually was.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published June 4, 2019
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2380 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews
July 27, 2019
I grew up next door to a couple, he was an American and she was French. Both were Jews. I knew he was originally in the OSS, and parachuted behind enemy lines into France, and that's where he met her. However as I got older and learned more history, there were still some questions that I had about facts not lining up. Not to say their sons lied about anything, but it didn't match what I was learning about the OSS. This book clearly shows that they were both involved in the COE. In fact, I went back to check her obituary from a few years ago, and it stated that her family moved to England to escape the Nazis, and made no mention of her behind-the-scenes activities. I'm pretty sure that I never heard about her living in England at any point. Hence the COE tie in and clarification of a few bits that I didn't understand.
May 8, 2019
This book, co-written by the son, tells the story of Jean Claude Guiet during his days preparing for and serving in a team of Special Operations Executive commandos in German occupied France right after D-Day. The team consisted of four members: Philippe Liewer, Violette Szabo (about whom there is a book and a movie “Carve Her Name with Pride”), Bob Maloubier, and Jen Claude Guiet.
The story is told simply, yet at times conveys the tension of nearly being caught by the enemy or absorbed in a fire-fight between the French maquisards and Germans. And at times, with some of the characters, their descriptions of the adventures almost feel like they are understating the danger they were in. As noted below, this understatement of accomplishments may be an attributed of the “Greatest Generation”.
The story is told in three phases: the first roughly sets up the story of the other team members; the second talks about Jean Claude and his training and preparation for the special mission; and the final section on the operation, named Salesman II, which was intended to slow movement of German troupes from the south of France to Normandy by recruiting, organizing, arming and directly local French maquisards to disrupt the German operations.
The epilogue talks of what happened after the Salesman operation. The contribution of this book is to bring forward the story of people who agreed to put their lives at risk for a greater cause. Normally, the life of the commando behind enemy lines, especially the radio expert, was about three weeks. Capture by the Germans very likely led to death. And those experiences, are often never told, both because of the agreements made and because at that age, the horrors of war were not shared. [An uncle of mine never talked about his experiences in the European theater.]
As a disclaimer, I received an advanced copy of this book to read because an editor at Penguin read my review of Sonia Purnell’s “A Woman of No Importance” about Virginia Hall. It is hard to avoid comparison between the stories, since both Virginia Hall and Jean Claude Guiet served in SOE operations, and later CIA, both served in the center of France, one in/around Lyon, one in/around Limoges. Virginia Hall’s story covers more of her life, and how she overcame physical disabilities and gender biases, and how she was in France twice. As for Jean Claude’s story, what is amazing is that his son learned about this when his father was quite old, and what a revelation that must have been. Based on the epilogue, there is still more to told about Jean Claude’s life, and his strong stances on certain issues such as gender equity and the Vietnam war. Finally, both Virginia Hall and Jean Claude Guiet were forever modest (or silent) about the roles they played in the Second World War, that “Greatest Generation”, named by Tom Brokaw’s book of that title.
As a final note, the Scholars of Mayhem does include interesting sections that add context about the war. These were very appreciated.
The story is told simply, yet at times conveys the tension of nearly being caught by the enemy or absorbed in a fire-fight between the French maquisards and Germans. And at times, with some of the characters, their descriptions of the adventures almost feel like they are understating the danger they were in. As noted below, this understatement of accomplishments may be an attributed of the “Greatest Generation”.
The story is told in three phases: the first roughly sets up the story of the other team members; the second talks about Jean Claude and his training and preparation for the special mission; and the final section on the operation, named Salesman II, which was intended to slow movement of German troupes from the south of France to Normandy by recruiting, organizing, arming and directly local French maquisards to disrupt the German operations.
The epilogue talks of what happened after the Salesman operation. The contribution of this book is to bring forward the story of people who agreed to put their lives at risk for a greater cause. Normally, the life of the commando behind enemy lines, especially the radio expert, was about three weeks. Capture by the Germans very likely led to death. And those experiences, are often never told, both because of the agreements made and because at that age, the horrors of war were not shared. [An uncle of mine never talked about his experiences in the European theater.]
As a disclaimer, I received an advanced copy of this book to read because an editor at Penguin read my review of Sonia Purnell’s “A Woman of No Importance” about Virginia Hall. It is hard to avoid comparison between the stories, since both Virginia Hall and Jean Claude Guiet served in SOE operations, and later CIA, both served in the center of France, one in/around Lyon, one in/around Limoges. Virginia Hall’s story covers more of her life, and how she overcame physical disabilities and gender biases, and how she was in France twice. As for Jean Claude’s story, what is amazing is that his son learned about this when his father was quite old, and what a revelation that must have been. Based on the epilogue, there is still more to told about Jean Claude’s life, and his strong stances on certain issues such as gender equity and the Vietnam war. Finally, both Virginia Hall and Jean Claude Guiet were forever modest (or silent) about the roles they played in the Second World War, that “Greatest Generation”, named by Tom Brokaw’s book of that title.
As a final note, the Scholars of Mayhem does include interesting sections that add context about the war. These were very appreciated.
July 23, 2020
A truly fascinating first hand account of one man's service in the secret and terrible WWII occupied France resistance. Guiet's son Dan and his co-writer do a really wonderful job filling out the corners of Jean Claude's service time with details about the people he would meet and serve with as well as context for the war at large.
It's an incredible cast of characters that Guiet would serve with or come across and while the ending feels almost abrupt after all the espionage, the books actual conclusion is crafted to help you take a wide angle view of what these people had to do after the war. - Heartily recommended to those interested in WWII, spy stories or real-life accounts of heroism.
It's an incredible cast of characters that Guiet would serve with or come across and while the ending feels almost abrupt after all the espionage, the books actual conclusion is crafted to help you take a wide angle view of what these people had to do after the war. - Heartily recommended to those interested in WWII, spy stories or real-life accounts of heroism.
September 20, 2025
Great story, easy read. A fascinating piece of WWII history I’ve never read about. Thanks to my daughter Leah for recommending this book.
June 28, 2019
This is first-rate reporting, historical reconstruction and writing. It’s a remarkable story, terrifically and lovingly told. I can’t recommend it highly enough.
September 16, 2019
Scholar (noun): a specialist in a particular branch of study, especially the humanities; a distinguished academic.
Mayhem (noun): violent or damaging disorder; chaos.
Scholars of Mayhem is the story of Jean Claude Guiet, an American-born child of French parents who joined the army at 18 years old to fight during World War II. Jean Claude wanted to be a paratrooper; because of his language skills he got drafted into the OSS (Office of Strategic Services), and was then transferred to the SOE, Britain's version of the same. His mission: as a secret agent and wireless operator, disappear behind enemy lines on D-Day and keep the Germans away from the beaches by causing as much mayhem as possible.
I stayed up until 1:30 a.m. finish to this book. This group was on the cutting edge of technology. They had weapons in every conceivable form and they were always looking for new ways to combat the enemy. Reading it made me realize how much of our world has changed since this war, and how so many of these things wouldn't be possible with today's technology.
The book was so well written. I really appreciated how concise it was, the story was constantly moving me through Guiet's war. It's amazing what he was able to accomplish in the short time he was behind enemy lines in France. I'd never read this portion of the war's history before. I highly recommend for any WWII history fans out there.
Mayhem (noun): violent or damaging disorder; chaos.
Scholars of Mayhem is the story of Jean Claude Guiet, an American-born child of French parents who joined the army at 18 years old to fight during World War II. Jean Claude wanted to be a paratrooper; because of his language skills he got drafted into the OSS (Office of Strategic Services), and was then transferred to the SOE, Britain's version of the same. His mission: as a secret agent and wireless operator, disappear behind enemy lines on D-Day and keep the Germans away from the beaches by causing as much mayhem as possible.
I stayed up until 1:30 a.m. finish to this book. This group was on the cutting edge of technology. They had weapons in every conceivable form and they were always looking for new ways to combat the enemy. Reading it made me realize how much of our world has changed since this war, and how so many of these things wouldn't be possible with today's technology.
The book was so well written. I really appreciated how concise it was, the story was constantly moving me through Guiet's war. It's amazing what he was able to accomplish in the short time he was behind enemy lines in France. I'd never read this portion of the war's history before. I highly recommend for any WWII history fans out there.
April 10, 2020
I think it contributes to the good in the world when we're reminded that in 1942 there were people willing to give up their plans and futures to parachute into a hostile, uncertain environment in order to take the fight to evil. I further believe that bringing up the fact that the Nazis would retaliate against French villages by hanging all able-bodied citizens from lampposts is useful. The people that encountered all this first-hand are leaving us, so putting down narratives like Jean Claude Guiet's is essential. I want to read about the ways in which they stayed one step ahead of the SS signals intelligence units and informers amongst the fractious French guerrilla bands. The style here is tight--few unnecessary words or anecdotes, and all the trends and perturbations of recent French history are implicit as you roll through the pages: the civil unrest Camus described in his novels; the atavistic and corrosive nationalism that led to the Dreyfus affair and later humiliation at Algiers and Dien Bien Phu; but also that fierce and laudable patriotism made manifest in red, white, and blue parachutes on a massive Bastille Day supply drop (an event that lifted the spirits of the maquisards and drove the local German units into a spasm of retributive violence). Again, I want to be reminded of this era and the ways in which it brought out both the best and worst in our grandparents' generation. I hope these accounts keep emerging as that generation passes on.
November 15, 2019
Deeply moving
This story changed the concept of heroism for me. I always thought it was a single mission or event occurring over a few hours or at most over a few days.
The story of these men and women surviving behind enemy lines for months, with the threat of discovery and torture and captivity omnipresent, was deeply moving.
There was no moment of safety at all. No peaceful sleep, no relaxing dinner amongst friends. For the highest of all purpose, the defeat of the German war machine.
Wonderfully told in a matter of fact, non melodramatic way, the simple telling of the facts and events created their own drama and high tension.
Thankfully it was recorded to share with all of us.
This story changed the concept of heroism for me. I always thought it was a single mission or event occurring over a few hours or at most over a few days.
The story of these men and women surviving behind enemy lines for months, with the threat of discovery and torture and captivity omnipresent, was deeply moving.
There was no moment of safety at all. No peaceful sleep, no relaxing dinner amongst friends. For the highest of all purpose, the defeat of the German war machine.
Wonderfully told in a matter of fact, non melodramatic way, the simple telling of the facts and events created their own drama and high tension.
Thankfully it was recorded to share with all of us.
December 16, 2019
Desperate times and desperate measures of a kind hard for us to imagine are the setting of this biography. Bilingual French American Jean Guiet gets roped into the OSS, and subsequently works with the SOE, dropping behind the lines just after D-Day to delay and harass a Nazi Panzer division which is on its way to wreak havoc on the Allied troops. Extraordinary courage and sacrifice are the order of the day; the backgrounds and fates of Guiet's cohort are explored also giving a fuller picture of the risks these young people took. Written by the subject's son with Journalist Timothy Smith, this is a gripping account made all the more compelling by being non-fiction.
July 17, 2019
We will never run out of amazing World War II stories. Ever. Daniel Guiet wrote an exciting, personal book about his father who (as a covert agent for Churchill’s “Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare”) played a key role in helping organize the French Resistance. Although, in some ways, his father’s life after WWII (weird CIA stuff, odd defense contractor jobs, resisting the Vietnam War) is just as compelling.
I interviewed the author here:
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/feature...
I interviewed the author here:
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/feature...
August 28, 2019
I've read books about the French resistance forces in WW II. This true story, however, opened my eyes to the work done by the British (and other Allied nations) in strengthening those forces during the critical time surrounding D-Day. I had not idea that a 20-year old American played a vital role in the success of those efforts. It was a fascinating read for me.
Read
October 6, 2019This is a gem of a book! So well-researched unlike so many books out now about this subject. The writers have presented the facts in a suspenseful narrative featuring fascinating characters. A quick read packed with info!
November 3, 2023
This is an amazing story, possibly an amazing three stories…but it’s not a very good book.
I can see the challenge here. I’ve dealt with a lesser version of it myself.
Daniel Guiet’s father, Jean-Claude, was an extraordinary secret agent. When he was only 20, in the final year of World War II, he was parachuted behind German lines to help foment French partisan resistance as the Allies worked their way east from Normandy. It is incredible, brave stuff. The stuff of some of the best spy stories of the 20th Century. And, as history, it’s a debt the rest of us can never repay.
The trouble is, Jean-Claude’s experiences – extraordinary as they were – are hard to relate. For one, most of the exploits were either unrecorded, classified, or destroyed. That’s the nature of clandestine work.
For another, Jean-Claude serves in some ways as a secondary character in the story of his best-known partner, Violette Szabo. Violette – who looks something like Ingrid Bergman in the picture Wikipedia has of her – was brave, beautiful, and martyred. She’s had her story told in books and movies, and it seems worth telling. Injured, she held off a company of S.S. troops long enough for her partner to escape. Then, in terrible conditions, she ministered to other British and American prisoners, surviving for months in a concentration camp before being summarily shot.
And, for a final reason, Jean-Claude waited a long time to tell his story to Daniel, long enough that it’s colored by the rest of his life rather than the verve of being 20 in wartime.
I can see telling this in any of three directions: 1) with the focus on a specific mission Jean-Claude participated in (and there are several candidates, but I’d go with their successfully blowing up a pair of trains in a tight valley); 2) with the full story of Jean-Claude’s career – a CIA career that took him to the early years in Vietnam and eventually to a role in the anti-war movement; or 3) the story of how Daniel has come to know, and not know, what his father experienced.
Instead, this is a bit of a stew of all that. It spends a lot of time on incidents peripheral or contextual to Jean-Claude’s personal adventures. At times, there are so many names that I lose track of them. There’s an appendix that tells of what happened to many of those characters, and I admit I couldn’t remember who many of them were.
There’s also an awkwardness in dealing with Daniel’s relation to Jean-Claude. Daniel tells us early that he’s writing his father’s story, but later we get Jean-Claude referred to without that intimacy. It’s no longer a father/son story but the story of an agent whose story has largely been overshadowed by others’.
There’s also an appendix dealing with Jean-Claude’s later life, and it comes across with the sense that the author(s) wished they’d dealt with it as well as with what they actually have.
As I say, I have sympathy for Daniel and his co-author. He’s close to this story; it’s his father’s. That should give him license to tell it. I can see why he’s evacuated himself from so much of this, but, once he does that, he reduces himself to just another historian – and, in this instance, it’s an historian who has, other than access to his father’s memoir, little distinctive to bring to the subject.
Jean-Claude’s personal story, the larger story of the operatives he worked alongside, and the story of how a son understands the brave legacy of his father all deserve quality books. This one, intriguing as it can be at times, just isn’t that book.
I can see the challenge here. I’ve dealt with a lesser version of it myself.
Daniel Guiet’s father, Jean-Claude, was an extraordinary secret agent. When he was only 20, in the final year of World War II, he was parachuted behind German lines to help foment French partisan resistance as the Allies worked their way east from Normandy. It is incredible, brave stuff. The stuff of some of the best spy stories of the 20th Century. And, as history, it’s a debt the rest of us can never repay.
The trouble is, Jean-Claude’s experiences – extraordinary as they were – are hard to relate. For one, most of the exploits were either unrecorded, classified, or destroyed. That’s the nature of clandestine work.
For another, Jean-Claude serves in some ways as a secondary character in the story of his best-known partner, Violette Szabo. Violette – who looks something like Ingrid Bergman in the picture Wikipedia has of her – was brave, beautiful, and martyred. She’s had her story told in books and movies, and it seems worth telling. Injured, she held off a company of S.S. troops long enough for her partner to escape. Then, in terrible conditions, she ministered to other British and American prisoners, surviving for months in a concentration camp before being summarily shot.
And, for a final reason, Jean-Claude waited a long time to tell his story to Daniel, long enough that it’s colored by the rest of his life rather than the verve of being 20 in wartime.
I can see telling this in any of three directions: 1) with the focus on a specific mission Jean-Claude participated in (and there are several candidates, but I’d go with their successfully blowing up a pair of trains in a tight valley); 2) with the full story of Jean-Claude’s career – a CIA career that took him to the early years in Vietnam and eventually to a role in the anti-war movement; or 3) the story of how Daniel has come to know, and not know, what his father experienced.
Instead, this is a bit of a stew of all that. It spends a lot of time on incidents peripheral or contextual to Jean-Claude’s personal adventures. At times, there are so many names that I lose track of them. There’s an appendix that tells of what happened to many of those characters, and I admit I couldn’t remember who many of them were.
There’s also an awkwardness in dealing with Daniel’s relation to Jean-Claude. Daniel tells us early that he’s writing his father’s story, but later we get Jean-Claude referred to without that intimacy. It’s no longer a father/son story but the story of an agent whose story has largely been overshadowed by others’.
There’s also an appendix dealing with Jean-Claude’s later life, and it comes across with the sense that the author(s) wished they’d dealt with it as well as with what they actually have.
As I say, I have sympathy for Daniel and his co-author. He’s close to this story; it’s his father’s. That should give him license to tell it. I can see why he’s evacuated himself from so much of this, but, once he does that, he reduces himself to just another historian – and, in this instance, it’s an historian who has, other than access to his father’s memoir, little distinctive to bring to the subject.
Jean-Claude’s personal story, the larger story of the operatives he worked alongside, and the story of how a son understands the brave legacy of his father all deserve quality books. This one, intriguing as it can be at times, just isn’t that book.
February 23, 2023
I gave it a three star rating. Because to me it wasn't as interesting as i was hoping it to be. It took a while for the book to get interesting and it was really hard to fully get into and took a long time too really hood the reader into the book.
Along side having a really hard time getting hooked into the book it was really hard to not get distracted bc it was a lot of words about the military and if you don't have family or don't know the military well it could be really hard to understand .
My favorite quote from the book is, "That summer the boys boarded the Normandie and sailed to France as usual, but without their parents for the first time." This is my favorite quote from the book because it really shows how something so simple can be made a scary thing and how teens were taken from their families to go fight this war i think it has a lot of meaning to it.
The main plot of the story is about how this guys kids find a bunch of his old army stuff and when they do they find out that he was a secret agent in world war two. It goes on to talk more about how me came to be in the army and what he did in the army.
The theme is really just finding out what their dad went through and finding out what he did and how his division came to be because it wasn't a think before this, and what happened when he got time off and got to come home. He also talks about the people that he meets along the way.
Along side having a really hard time getting hooked into the book it was really hard to not get distracted bc it was a lot of words about the military and if you don't have family or don't know the military well it could be really hard to understand .
My favorite quote from the book is, "That summer the boys boarded the Normandie and sailed to France as usual, but without their parents for the first time." This is my favorite quote from the book because it really shows how something so simple can be made a scary thing and how teens were taken from their families to go fight this war i think it has a lot of meaning to it.
The main plot of the story is about how this guys kids find a bunch of his old army stuff and when they do they find out that he was a secret agent in world war two. It goes on to talk more about how me came to be in the army and what he did in the army.
The theme is really just finding out what their dad went through and finding out what he did and how his division came to be because it wasn't a think before this, and what happened when he got time off and got to come home. He also talks about the people that he meets along the way.
August 4, 2022
This is an exceptionally engrossing account of courage, challenge, hardship death in the French Resistance during World War II. Exhibiting the pull of a mystery adventure and the scholarship of history, it is the same time an extremely human account by the protagonist's son. Jean Claude Guiet was the son of New England educators from a family with roots in France. In short, joining the war effort Jean Claude is recruited by the most sensitive and top-secret emerging forces in the World War II government of the United States. We see him progress from university student to trained killer dropped behind the lines of D-Day France. We encounter his fellow anti-Nazi fighters, including the courageous and defiant Violette. We also are plunged into the horror of war and the particular brutality of Nazi atrocity. Action packed and a page turner, it is also a loving tribute as a son encounters a past, a life, of a father who understandably chose to remain silent about the horror of war.
April 13, 2024
This book is written by the son of a Soecial Agent of the British Special Operations Executive team. This group of elite men and women were sent to France during WWII ahead of the D-day invasion.
The details of their missions were heart pounding and blood racing . Death and discovery were constant companions to the four person team known with the code name Salesmen. The group of four included a code breaker, a female courier, a marksman and a radio operator.
They parachute into France and with the help of French Resistance men and women thwart the Germans often and quickly with accuracy and speed. They use explosives and gunfire.
They witness the cruelty of German officers who capture and torture Jewish people. One unfortunate memory was of hundreds men, women and children that were separated and burned in a church.
The men and women were given awards but not in a public ceremony since their jobs were top secret. Some awards were given posthumously.
The book covered the individual lives before, during, and after the war.
The details of their missions were heart pounding and blood racing . Death and discovery were constant companions to the four person team known with the code name Salesmen. The group of four included a code breaker, a female courier, a marksman and a radio operator.
They parachute into France and with the help of French Resistance men and women thwart the Germans often and quickly with accuracy and speed. They use explosives and gunfire.
They witness the cruelty of German officers who capture and torture Jewish people. One unfortunate memory was of hundreds men, women and children that were separated and burned in a church.
The men and women were given awards but not in a public ceremony since their jobs were top secret. Some awards were given posthumously.
The book covered the individual lives before, during, and after the war.
April 21, 2022
Spying was nasty business in World War II.
There are a lot of books on spying in World War II. What makes this book different is one of the authors is the son of the subject, Jean Claude Guiet. His son tells the story almost as a parable of a time his father is not particularly excited to relive. Anyone who is the child of someone who has seen combat will know what it’s like when a parent wants to avoid the subject altogether.
The story is very streamlined and personal which allows the reader to be more immersed and gain a better understanding of the day to day as a spy. It also makes it pretty clear how easy it is to make one wrong move and end up on your way to execution.
If you don’t want to read a sprawling book on World War II or just need an introduction to espionage in World War II, this book if definitely for you.
There are a lot of books on spying in World War II. What makes this book different is one of the authors is the son of the subject, Jean Claude Guiet. His son tells the story almost as a parable of a time his father is not particularly excited to relive. Anyone who is the child of someone who has seen combat will know what it’s like when a parent wants to avoid the subject altogether.
The story is very streamlined and personal which allows the reader to be more immersed and gain a better understanding of the day to day as a spy. It also makes it pretty clear how easy it is to make one wrong move and end up on your way to execution.
If you don’t want to read a sprawling book on World War II or just need an introduction to espionage in World War II, this book if definitely for you.
November 21, 2021
I saw Carve Her Name with Pride as a young teen, so was pleased to see how this filled out the rest of the story of the team she was on and their missions.
Having also watched the French TV series, A French Village, set in this same time period, I appreciated the level of detail on the many layers of French life -- resisters, collaborators, the pro-Nazi militia (often more brutal than the Nazis). The history is worth reading. These men and women are worth reading about. Their stories need to be more commonly known.
Having also watched the French TV series, A French Village, set in this same time period, I appreciated the level of detail on the many layers of French life -- resisters, collaborators, the pro-Nazi militia (often more brutal than the Nazis). The history is worth reading. These men and women are worth reading about. Their stories need to be more commonly known.
November 20, 2019
Enlightening autobiographical chronicle of an SOE Team during WW II, placed behind enemy lines in France, tasked with impacting the Nazi forces during the days immediately following the Normandy invasion. Their ability to train quickly, land safely in France, and then slow down the German reaction to the Allied Forces landing at Normandy was crucial to it's success. Unbelievable heroism that must never be forgotten.
July 29, 2021
In sharing his father's story, Mr. Guiet neither sugarcoats the horrors or romanticizes the exploits of the SOE and the French Resistance. Deep in the book, Mr. Guiet reminds us that his father is only twenty years old during his months as a wireless operator--a necessary position that almost assured a short life expectancy. Thankfully, Jean Claude Guiet survived his stint and his son has now been able to share one man's WWII experiences. Highly recommend.
June 25, 2019
Jean Claude Guiet is a real-life super hero. How could a 20 year old American go behind enemy lines during the D-Day invasion and help defeat the Nazi occupation in France? He did and with no recognition, from the France or the United States. An astonishing story about the infancy of the CIA (then the OSS) and how these brave men and women served because it was the right thing to do.
July 8, 2019
I won this book from the Goodreads giveaway.
Scholars of Mayhem tells the story of Jean Claude, an agent in France during WWII. I found it very educational. This is a part of history I knew little about. There are so few WWII veterans alive and I think it is important to hear their stories and have them preserved in history for the future.
Scholars of Mayhem tells the story of Jean Claude, an agent in France during WWII. I found it very educational. This is a part of history I knew little about. There are so few WWII veterans alive and I think it is important to hear their stories and have them preserved in history for the future.
September 26, 2019
My attention was never grabbed when I was reading this book. I was really looking forward to the story, and think if I went back and read it again it might be better. It is a cool WWII story and for those who like war books you should read this one. However, it just didn't live up to my expectations for it.
September 13, 2023
A fine, well written book. I knew little more than the basics of the OSS, so this was a real eye-opener especially in regard to selection and training. I also had previously know only superficial facts as to the role of the Marquis in the post D-Day period. It was interesting to know more about Violette as a person. His father must have been an amazing person.
August 6, 2019
What a fascinating read, and what an amazing life. I really would like to know more whenever the government de classifies his service records for his service against the Japanese, and later service with the CIA.
August 13, 2019
Just happened to find this book in the new books section at the library. Wasn't expecting much. But this turned out to be a very engaging true story of espionage and sabotage in Nazi occupied France in WWII.
September 16, 2019
Man ! Your daddy was one cool dude through and through. Thank you for buying him that laptop and for him opening up his soul and telling us this story. I certainly hope you have more stories lined up for another book of Jean Claude’s heroic adventures.
May 29, 2020
I ran across bits and pieces of the backstory to this in Natural Born Heroes, and SoM shined more light into a dim corner of recent history. Fascinating story and well told. It makes you wish there is another volume about Guiet's post-WW2 experiences.
January 2, 2021
Scholars of Mayhem was incredibly interesting and well-researched. I have read other books about British special operations in WWII which was helpful because I was already familiar with many terms used in the book. If you like historical books you would probably enjoy Scholars of Mayhem!
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