National Geographic World War II: The Spies and Secret Missions That Won the War

by National Geographic Society

The story of World War II is brought to life as never before by taking you deep inside the secret lives of spies and spy masters; secret agents and secret armies; enigma machines and code breakers; psychological warfare and black propaganda; secret weapons and secret battle strategies. WORLD WAR II THE SECRET HISTORY tells the shocking story of the covert activity that shaped the outcome of the war and the destiny of millions of people.

Genres: History

115 pages, Single Issue Magazine

First published January 1, 2017

About the author

The National Geographic Society (NGS), headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations in the world.
Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, and natural science, the promotion of environmental and historical conservation, and the study of world culture and history. The National Geographic Society's logo is a yellow portrait frame—rectangular in shape—which appears on the margins surrounding the front covers of its magazines and as its television channel logo. Through National Geographic Partners (a joint venture with The Walt Disney Company), the Society operates the magazine, TV channels, a website, worldwide events, and other media operations.

Reviews

[Tricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

They didn't put their best writers on this: I'm not just talking about quality of the prose, in addition, at times the story line jumped around and was hard to follow. But I did learn some new things, and it was interesting reading over all. It's fascinating to me how different books will emphasize different aspects. For example, this magazine has a couple paragraphs on Virginia Hall, and not even really enough to entice you to read A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II. The chapter titled Secret Warriors introduces you to Noor Inayat Khan, but doesn't tell you much about how she evaded capture multiple times, or even mention how she escaped a prison (for that, listen to the episode about her on the Spy Sisters podcast series).

(Obtained from a neighbor's Little Free Library.)

[Karl · Rating 5 out of 5]

You are a World War II buff. It's a very easy read. You are not a World War II buff. It’s going be very hard to follow.

[Marjorie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The mix of photos, details, and stories is very fascinating. These days we’ve seen many movies, and series covering these topics. So much uncertainty.