Spies, Lies, and Disguise: The Daring Tricks and Deeds that Won World War II

by Jennifer Swanson

In the late 1930s, times were desperate. The world found itself at war again, less than twenty years after the first World War had ended. No one could quite believe it. And no one wanted it. The leaders of every country involved were left with no choice. They had to try to end the war as fast as possible, using whatever means they could.
That meant coming up with secret operations meant to deceive, deflect, and confuse their enemies. Poison the cattle that the Germans eat? Deliberately float a corpse dressed up as a spy across the water to have it wash up on Germany's shore? Create a unit of top secret commandos with a license to kill? These were all real tactics attempted with the ultimate goal of defeating Hitler. In this off-center look at history, readers will be captivated by the classified and covert efforts made by each side as they tried to gain the upper hand and win the war. Restricted access is lifted to give the reader a peek into the top secret operations of the daring men and women who fought the war under a cloak of secrecy.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Middle Grade, War, Childrens, Historical, Military Fiction

144 pages, Hardcover

Published November 26, 2019

About the author

Science Rocks! And so do Jennifer Swanson’s books. She is the award-winning author of over 45 nonfiction books for children. Using her background in science and history that she received from the U.S. Naval Academy, and her M.S. in Education, Jennifer excels at taking complex facts and making them accessible, compelling, and humorous for young readers, Jennifer's passion for science resonates in in all her books but especially, Astronaut-Aquanaut: How Space Science and Sea Science Interact and BEASTLY BIONICS which both received Florida Book Awards and NSTA BEST STEM book awards. Her Save the Crash-test Dummies book received an NSTA BEST STEM Award and a Parent’s Choice GOLD Award. Jennifer has been a featured speaker at the Tucson Book Festival, National NSTA conferences, the Highlights Foundation, the World Science Festival (twice), the Atlanta Science Festival (twice) and the Library of Congress’ National Book Festival in 2019. You can find Jennifer through her website www.JenniferSwansonBooks.com.

Reviews

[Panda Incognito · Rating 1 out of 5]

This informative book covers a number of different espionage, sabotage, and deception efforts that the Allies made during World War II, and it should appeal to a fourth through eighth grade audience. Unfortunately, even though this is a kid-friendly source with lots of information, this book's oversimplifications, occasionally erroneous statements, and inappropriate tone require me to denounce this as a problematic resource on WWII.

In the foreword, the author begins in an overly chatty style and provides an extremely brief explanation of the war. She says, "Well, there was this dictator named Hitler. Nobody thought much of him as he was gaining power, but then that power went to his head and he decided he wanted to take over the world." Only the first sentence of that is REMOTELY accurate.

Yes, there was a dictator named Hitler, but his master plan of taking over the world predated his rise to power, and he rose to power because people did think a lot of him. Many Germans were so taken and overwhelmed by Hitler's rhetoric that they embraced him as a Messiah, and many who found his racial, social, and political ideas disturbing supported him anyway because they were so desperate for the "work and bread" that he promised after grinding postwar poverty and the Great Depression. They hoped that he was just a demagogue, and that this was just empty rhetoric. Germans who actively resented Hitler's rise to power and thought very little of him were in the minority.

She could have phrased her statement to say that few people on the international stage thought much of Hitler, but this would unfortunately be inaccurate as well. Many Westerners thought that Hitler's rise to power was a positive development for Germany, especially economically, and Americans who lived in Germany often felt positively towards social changes there. Charles Lindbergh, who visited Germany, was impressed with Hitler and even appreciated the aircraft aspect of his military build-up. In terms of national leaders, Winston Churchill was one of the only significant figures who fully recognized the danger that Hitler posed.

This author's oversimplification is pure misinformation, and the fact that this is a children's book makes it even more unacceptable. Children's authors have a duty to present history accurately even within a simplified form, and even though Hitler's rise to power is incredibly complex, I just boiled down the basics to two paragraphs. It's not okay for this book to teach children that many Germans didn't herald Hitler's rise with joy. It's not okay to make it look like the world recognized what a threat he was, when it absolutely did not.

Also in the foreword, this author refers to Hitler persecuting "people who were LGBTQIA+," which is ludicrous. Hitler targeted gay men. His regime almost never targeted lesbians, since Germans did not view them as a political threat to Germany, and people who were medically intersex or lacked sexual desires were not considered to be degenerates. This author just slapped down a series of letters without even thinking about how they relate to history. Does she really think that the Gestapo went around Germany rounding up asexual people because they lacked active sex drives? Good grief. As for transgender people, I would expect that the Nazis persecuted them, but I am not sure. I have never come across any details about it in my reading, and my last several minutes of research have not turned up clear answers.

However, even though I don't have concrete information to offer regarding the treatment of transvestites and gender-non-conforming people in Germany, the author's statement is still false and misguided. Because the Nazis persecuted homosexual men based on anti-sodomy laws, this book's attempt to be inclusive to a whole list of sexual minorities is untrue, misleading, and trivializes the horrendous experiences of the thousands of gay men who experienced torture, slave labor, horrendous medical experiments, and death in concentration camps.

Outside of the foreword, my primary complaint is that this author has the AUDACITY to make it sound like Stalin was progressive. She uses this word to describe the USSR's enlistment of female pilots to help the war effort, and she praises this without providing the slightest context for who Stalin was. MILLIONS of people died under his regime, but hey, he let girls fly planes, so let's call him progressive! The lack of context and nuance are disgusting. You can praise the bravery of the Nightwitch fliers without making it sound like the USSR was a great place to be.

This book is overly chatty, talks down to children through constant repetition and the assumption that they can't understand the war's stakes, oversimplifies the war to the point of telling lies, and trivializes the brave efforts of the men and women who helped the Allied cause. Part of this is through the writing style, part of this comes through the cartoon illustrations, and part of this comes through the author's incredibly misguided choice to make puns and engage in wordplay about people's sacrifices. For example, she ends one chapter by saying that it's too bad that the hundred and forty conspirators in the Stauffenberg assassination plot couldn't "execute" their plan properly. I have read in such detail about this plot and the people involved in it that I saw red. This is NOT okay. This is not something to be playful and cutesy about.

Still, this book was not entirely terrible. I learned some new things, read chapters that rang true to my preexisting knowledge, and found many of the photographic reproductions fascinating. However, because of this book's egregious historical errors and inappropriately playful tone, I would not recommend this book to anyone who lacks a solid knowledge base about WWII already. Some of the chapters in here are great, and this book covers lots of fascinating historical facts and risky spy maneuvers, but even though some of the material is completely sound, there are better books about the war that won't set children up to believe false things about the past.

Sources:

Hitlerland: American Eyewitnesses to the Nazi Rise to Power

Lindbergh

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/conten...

History File. “The Rise of Hitler, Part One.” YouTube, 2011, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTeIu...

History File. “The Rise of Hitler, Part Two.” YouTube, 2011, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y26Xs...

IBP Films Distribution. “Russia’s War – Blood upon the Snow [02-10] The Night before Midnight.” YouTube, 2011, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIftx...

ITV. “A New Germany (1933–1939).” YouTube, 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_co...

While fact-checking myself for this review, I read the article "Lesbianism, Transvestitism, and the Nazi State: A Microhistory of a Gestapo Investigation, 1939–1943," but I read it through my academic library and cannot share a public link.

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A curious book that's not like the others because it's about the tricks and spies and lies that helped win the war. It was the bait and switch, it was the night raids, it was the codes and ciphers. Each has a chapter and subheading specific to a person, a group of individuals, or a skill that was employed during World War II that's not like a history book, it's different and I liked it for that reason.

You can almost jump around and enjoy the thrill of the battle along with Swanson who writes the story.

[Cindy Mitchell *Kiss the Book* · Rating 2 out of 5]

Spies, Lies and Disguise: The Daring Tricks and Deeds that Won World War II by Jennifer Swanson, illustrated by Kevin O’Malley, 132 pages. Bloomsbury, 2019. $22. Content: Language: G; Mature Content: G; Violence: PG

BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS – OPTIONAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

Fifteen different stories are summarized in this nonfiction account about World War II. The chosen chapters revolve around little known operations that helped win the war. Some of the topics cover the Code Talkers, different spy missions, Operation Mincemeat, Bletchley Park, and the plans behind D-Day.

What a great idea, but the writing style is condescending. I enjoyed the compilation of the many ways the Allies worked at winning the war but could not get over the tone and voice of the author. She asks a ton of questions and uses phrases that are patronizing. She also downplays the horrid nature of war and Hitler, while trying to be witty, but just comes off disrespectful. Cool pictures, great premise, poor execution. I do think there’s pieces of information that teachers could use and present in a better way to their students.

Reviewer, C. Peterson
https://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2020...

[Stacie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jennifer Swanson begins her book with a dedication to the US Naval Academy where she earned her BS degree. She has a great respect for our military and knows the sacrifices made by many. As a middle school science teacher, Swanson gets kids. She knows how to write (and teach) so kids will listen and be interested. Her introduction explaining briefly about the history of WWII and the rise…and fall…of Hitler will make kids want to learn more.

Combine Swanson’s research with O’Malley’s witty cartoons and illustrations and this is a book that kids will want to keep reading and learning. The first chapter grabbed my attention by talking about famous spies. I already knew about the famous chef, Julia Child’s creation of a shark repellent for pilots who had to abandon their planes. But, I didn’t know about Morris “Moe” Berg, who after retiring from the MLB, became a secret agent spying on the Germans, specifically the German physicist Dr. Werner Heisenberg who was attempting to create an atomic bomb. The famous dancer, Josephine Baker was part of the resistance and hid Jews in her home as well as passed messages to informants on her sheet music.

I think the most fascinating story for me was reading about the Night Witches, a group of women trained as pilots in Stalin’s Russia. Their planes were made of wood and canvas and could only fly at night where their quiet approach could surprise the Germans. These women flew over 24,000 missions and dropped more than 23,000 tons of bombs on the Germans with great risk of death. Their story is quite amazing.

The book also includes actual photographs from the war which kids will learn from as well. Especially, noticing the lack of equipment and protection these soldiers had to protect themselves compared to our military today. Throughout the book, there are “Covert Clues” that give a bit more insight into the story which kids will appreciate.

It never fails, every WWII book I read teaches me something new and even children’s books can do that. This is a great book for kids who are history buffs and for families to read together and learn about this important time in the history of our World. For homeschooling families with a history or WWII unit, this is an excellent book for middle-grade readers.

[Laura Gardner · Rating 3 out of 5]

WWII buffs will love this detailed book about deceptions the Allies used during World War II to defeat the Germans. From fake armies to using civilians to using camouflage, the Allies used creative covert methods to defeat the enemy. Readers will learn about anthrax prepared for cattle in Germany to poison the agriculture system, bouncing bombs used to blow up a dam, and the massive effort to distract from D-Day. Various pull out information is included in each chapter including “Science Scoop”s and “WWII Warrior”s. Each chapter is introduced with a humorous WANTED poster detailing the type of person required to complete the deception detailed in that chapter. The photographs are well-chosen and interesting. Includes a selected biography, sources for more information, photograph credits, and an index.
Students who like WWII nonfiction will like this one immensely.
While the conversational tone makes this book highly readable, it feels a little too casual for the topic of war. The author does say in “A Final NOte” that war “certainly isn’t funny,” after having presented 124 pages that make it seem sort of funny. Moreover, some opportunities are missed like the chance to talk about the persecution that Alan Turing endured for being gay (he gets a featured pull out section, but it doesn’t mention the way he was treated). The dropping of the atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki receive serious photographs, but the moral implications of dropping these bombs isn’t really explored at all. Finally, after checking other reviews, it turns out that some of the information is incorrect, as well, such as the type of animal that actually died from the anthrax test cakes (sheep, not cows) and the time period that one of the spies was active.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although it helps to know a bit of background on WWII and the various individuals as well as the battles being fought, readers can quickly fill in that background if they are interested enough in doing so. But the focus here, made clear from the start, is not the politics of war, but how war was waged through espionage and trickery, often by individuals who were sworn to secrecy and whose exploits would not be revealed for decades, if at all. While I was familiar with some of these topics such as the Code Talkers and the Night Witches, there were other proposed moves with which I was less familiar, such as poisoning cows with anthrax cakes and Churchill's secret army. Each chapter begins with a slightly-humorous, tongue-in-cheek fictionalized want ad intended to solicit volunteers for these war efforts. The author clearly loves this topic--spying--and writes about it with great enthusiasm and passion. It would be hard for most middle grade readers to resist this book once they started reading it since it contains accessible text and clever chapter titles and subheads. The conversational tone used by the author makes up for the lack of color in the illustrations. I'd have loved this book as a seventh or eighth grader and would have quickly looked for more books on this topic. Readers will be surprised to learn about the contributions of some famous men and women to these espionage efforts as well as being a bit disconcerted by the lengths some individuals were willing to go in order to win the war.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wanted some courageous readers who don’t mind a little deception, trickery, and subterfuge. If that sounds like you then this just might be the book for you. It takes a look at the role that espionage played in helping the allies win World War II (WWII). Each chapter starts off with a wanted poster describing the attributes of what will be covered in that chapter. The wanted posters were my favorite part of the book. This book covers large operations such as Dynamo, Mandrel, and Overlord to smaller acts such as the plan to poison all the cows in Germany with anthrax. Night witches, codebreakers, code talkers, and inflatable tanks all play a big role in this book. There are a combination of drawn illustrations and real photos from the time period. This helps to visualize the actions being described. Scattered throughout are covert clues (interesting side facts about the topic being covered) and highlights of real heroes of WWII. The author’s final note is a nice touch reminding readers that war is not fun or glamourous and is best avoided. There is a an index for finding a specific topic quickly along with a brief bibliography for the reader who wants to continue exploring this side of WWII.

[Colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the first book I read to gauge whether this would be good for 8th grade and that is going to be the focus of this review.

I thought the text was very engaging. Each trick and deed or a group of similar tricks and deeds had its own chapter. The chapter starts off with a tongue-in-cheek wanted poster that sets up the subject of the chapter. I felt the most tongue-in-cheek poster was the one about the Allied Powers using a corpse to trick the Axis Powers about what their plans were. While the text was engaging, I felt the overall feel of the book is made for the younger middle school grades, which makes sense for one of reviews recommended it for 5th to 8th grade.

This book provided a lot of different instances that I think will fascinate everyone. For example, there was a group in the American forces whose main job was to stage fake armies. While this book talked about lesser known events in WWII, it did explain some events that I think are more well-known. For example, there was a chapter on the Navajo Code Talkers, which was interesting. This chapter also mentioned that the United States has used other Native American tribes' languages for codes, which I did not know about until I read this book.

Verdict: While I think this will hold appeal for all age groups, I think the target audience is for sixth to seventh grades. In terms of content, I think it depends on the child and grown-up. For example, sensitive souls maybe disturb by the concept of giving anthrax to cows and using a dead body to play a trick.

[Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

What would be engaging content is impacted by text that feels condescending in tone. The author's attempt to be witty and conversational comes off as patronizing and oversimplified. I also can't agree with using the word execute when talking about an assassination attempt or referring to Stalin as progressive simply because he used his female pilots. There is also inaccurate information in the book, both in some of the facts and in some of the wording. For example, he generalizes about Hitler's vendetta against all LGBTQIA when we only know for sure that he targeted gay men; the animals that died from the anthrax test were sheep not cows, the active time period for one of the spies is incorrect, etc. The worst part is the intro description of Hitler. It sets the stage from the beginning with the wrong information and tone. The author clearly is passionate about the subject and is trying to get young people interested in the topic as well, but misses the mark.

[Sesana · Rating 2 out of 5]

An excellent idea for middle grade nonfiction, hampered by tone. This book doesn't dig particularly deep looking for examples of espionage and misinformation in wartime, but that's fine. This is, after all, a book for the middle grade set, who will likely be encountering many of these stories for the first time. But Swanson's tone is overly condescending and flippant, even for a children's book. You don't need to talk down to young readers. This is most glaring in all of the atrocities that get lightly glazed over. The target audience of this book is young, but they can handle more information than Hitler simply being a very bad man. It's very jarring to see the author describe him as "openly fascist". It's also an odd choice to give a capsule feature on Turing without ever mentioning what happened to him after the war. Overall, I found this to be an overly cheery book, in a way that feels mildly insulting towards the young readers who would presumably have been excited to read this.

[Lizanne Johnson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to love this book as I received it directly from the author in a Shelf Awareness giveaway. I will be adding the book to my school library in spite of my reservations. I was uncomfortable from the start with the light tone. WWII and all it entailed is such a serious topic. I could see celebrating the trickery, however, I have a hard time with the description of Hitler in the introduction. The premise of the book is great. Revealing the “daring tricks and deeds” will appeal to my middle school readers. I will be interested in their opinions of the light voice. My readers of WWII fiction and nonfiction tend to be serious minded. Thank you Jennifer Swanson for the book. I will look for more of your work and hope I can love it more.

[Stephanie P (Because My Mother Read) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher for review. It releases tomorrow!

Spies, Lies, and Disguises is a middle grade level (about 9 years old and up) nonfiction that reveals all kinds of undercover operations that took place during WWII. To suit the age level it has a more conversational, casual tone and breaks down into smaller and engaging sections, but it is still packed full of great information.

My husband also loves reading about spies and I read many of the sections aloud to him during a road trip. It was fun to read about some spies and operations I was already familiar with, but there were a lot of things that were brand new and exciting to us as well.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jennifer Swanson's approach to nonfiction is contagious. She breathes life into unusual topics that will tug at you long after you finish them. Readers gain nuggets of information for their next trivia battle that will leave others shaking their heads in wonderment. Whether it's the ins and outs of how crash dummies are developed and used or how astronauts and aquanauts are similar, Swanson always surprises. This book is no exception. I'll admit I knew that Julia Child was involved in the spy game, but Roald Dahl? Having my own family members involved in the WWII resistance movement only made this book even more fascinating. It is well worth adding to your WWII booklist.

[Patti Sabik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Swanson does an incredible job of pacing in this book. She includes enough details so the segments are relevant, interesting, and compelling but keeps the reader moving along in the book so it feels like a quick read. I appreciated that she kept most of her stories to the World War II timeline while still “ chunking” them into convenient categories. Very good for readers just being introduced to the topic or those who are familiar but want those “truth is stranger than fiction” type of nuggets.

[Laurie Wallmark · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book to interest kids in history. A must read!

Does your child complain that history is boring or irrelevant? Then they need to read this book! What kid can resist reading a book about wartime spies? Spies, Lies, and Disguise tells about the many clever and unusual tricks that helped us win the war.

And for those kids who already love history? They'll absolutely adore all the specific details in this book. They won't be able to put it down.

[Lana · Rating 2 out of 5]

The "final note" in this book just didn't do enough to counteract the overall tone - making war fun and funny. This was especially problematic with the last chapter on nuclear weapons, but really was disturbing throughout. I wish I liked it more!

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun book to read, with a good variety of topics and a nice layout with many photographs and clear text. It wasn't as focused as I hoped from the title. The informal tone felt a little condescending but it wasn't too bad, and there was a nice balance of eager gruesomeness and delicacy.

[claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really interesting stories presented in a not really interesting way

[Celeste · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had great information but was presented poorly. I’m not sure why the author had to ask so many questions or be so flippant about horrible events.

[Laurie Wallmark · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book to interest kids in history. A must read!

Does your child complain that history is boring or irrelevant? Then they need to read this book! What kid can resist reading a book about wartime spies? Spies, Lies, and Disguise tells about the many clever and unusual tricks that helped us win the war.

And for those kids who already love history? They'll absolutely adore all the specific details in this book. They won't be able to put it down.