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Hitler's Secret War: The Nazi Espionage Campaign Against the Allies
In the shadows was another war… An unputdownable account of the Nazi spy operation and how it ultimately failedDuring the Second World War there was, behind the scenes, a bitter conflict was stamped ‘Top Secret’. It was a war of infiltration and misdirection, espionage and assassination. And the Nazis were determined not to let anyone best them.
Revealing the full extent of Nazi’s secret intelligence networks, bestselling author Charles Whiting takes the reader into organisations like the Abwehr, Germany’s renowned military intelligence bureau, and features interviews with key figures like such key figures as Giskes, who fooled the Americans at the Battle of the Bulge, and Ritter, who stole the highly classified US Norden bombsights. There are accounts of hubris, heroism and cowardice; stunning triumphs and excruciating defeats, all out of the public eye and revealed only decades later.
Over a period of thirty years, Whiting met and interviewed a huge number of Nazi and Allied survivors involved in what came to be known as ‘The War in the Shadows’. The result is an extraordinary and gripping story combining great cunning with staggering incompetence.
Perfect for readers of Ben Macintyre and Max Hastings, Hitler’s Secret War outdoes the best spy novel and demonstrates yet again that fiction cannot rival history.
Revealing the full extent of Nazi’s secret intelligence networks, bestselling author Charles Whiting takes the reader into organisations like the Abwehr, Germany’s renowned military intelligence bureau, and features interviews with key figures like such key figures as Giskes, who fooled the Americans at the Battle of the Bulge, and Ritter, who stole the highly classified US Norden bombsights. There are accounts of hubris, heroism and cowardice; stunning triumphs and excruciating defeats, all out of the public eye and revealed only decades later.
Over a period of thirty years, Whiting met and interviewed a huge number of Nazi and Allied survivors involved in what came to be known as ‘The War in the Shadows’. The result is an extraordinary and gripping story combining great cunning with staggering incompetence.
Perfect for readers of Ben Macintyre and Max Hastings, Hitler’s Secret War outdoes the best spy novel and demonstrates yet again that fiction cannot rival history.
244 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 1, 2000
About the author
Charles Whiting
269 books55 followersCharles Whiting was a British writer and military historian and with some 350 books of fiction and non-fiction to his credit, under his own name and a variety of pseudonyms including Ian Harding, Duncan Harding, K.N. Kostov, John Kerrigan, Klaus Konrad, and Leo Kessler.
Born in the Bootham area of York, England, he was a pupil at the prestigious Nunthorpe Grammar School, leaving at the age of 16 to join the British Army by lying about his age. Keen to be in on the wartime action, Whiting was attached to the 52nd Reconnaissance Regiment and by the age of 18 saw duty as a sergeant in France, Holland, Belgium and Germany in the latter stages of World War II. While still a soldier, he observed conflicts between the highest-ranking British and American generals which he would write about extensively in later years.
After the war, he stayed on in Germany completing his A-levels via correspondence course and teaching English before being enrolled at Leeds University reading History and German Language. As an undergraduate he was afforded opportunities for study at several European universities and, after gaining his degree, would go on to become an assistant professor of history. Elsewhere, Whiting held a variety of jobs which included working as a translator for a German chemical factory and spells as a publicist, a correspondent for The Times and feature writer for such diverse magazines as International Review of Linguistics, Soldier and Playboy.
His first novel was written while still an undergraduate, was published in 1954 and by 1958 had been followed by three wartime thrillers. Between 1960 and 2007 Charles went on to write over 350 titles, including 70 non-fiction titles covering varied topics from the Nazi intelligence service to British Regiments during World War II.
One of his publishers, Easingwold-based Rupert Smith of GH Smith & Son said he was a quiet man and prolific writer.
"He's one of a band of forgotten authors because he sold millions of copies and still, up to his death was doing publishing deals.He was the kind of man who was very self-effacing, one of Britain's forgotten authors, still working at 80 years of age, with his nose down and kicking out books."
Charles Henry Whiting, author and military historian died on July 24 2007, leaving his wife and son.
Born in the Bootham area of York, England, he was a pupil at the prestigious Nunthorpe Grammar School, leaving at the age of 16 to join the British Army by lying about his age. Keen to be in on the wartime action, Whiting was attached to the 52nd Reconnaissance Regiment and by the age of 18 saw duty as a sergeant in France, Holland, Belgium and Germany in the latter stages of World War II. While still a soldier, he observed conflicts between the highest-ranking British and American generals which he would write about extensively in later years.
After the war, he stayed on in Germany completing his A-levels via correspondence course and teaching English before being enrolled at Leeds University reading History and German Language. As an undergraduate he was afforded opportunities for study at several European universities and, after gaining his degree, would go on to become an assistant professor of history. Elsewhere, Whiting held a variety of jobs which included working as a translator for a German chemical factory and spells as a publicist, a correspondent for The Times and feature writer for such diverse magazines as International Review of Linguistics, Soldier and Playboy.
His first novel was written while still an undergraduate, was published in 1954 and by 1958 had been followed by three wartime thrillers. Between 1960 and 2007 Charles went on to write over 350 titles, including 70 non-fiction titles covering varied topics from the Nazi intelligence service to British Regiments during World War II.
One of his publishers, Easingwold-based Rupert Smith of GH Smith & Son said he was a quiet man and prolific writer.
"He's one of a band of forgotten authors because he sold millions of copies and still, up to his death was doing publishing deals.He was the kind of man who was very self-effacing, one of Britain's forgotten authors, still working at 80 years of age, with his nose down and kicking out books."
Charles Henry Whiting, author and military historian died on July 24 2007, leaving his wife and son.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 22, 2023
2/5 not worth reading due to poor sourcing. Feel like I've wasted my time. Writing style is ok I guess. The main problem is the sources, there is only a 1 page bibliography mostly of books from the 1960s and 70s (the book came out in 2000). The author relies a lot on interviews with the people involved but there is no proper notes or anything so it would be hard to verify. There is quite a few mentions of Canaris being homosexual but I can't seem to find anything about this online, which alone makes me doubt a lot of this book.
February 21, 2022
What a ridiculous book this is.
Masquerading as historical fact, reported, in great detail, speech from two people alone in a desert immediately begins to make the reader feel he is being conned.
And thus when the author jumps to huge conclusions with very little evidence to substantiate it elsewhere throughout the book, one is slightly inclined to question its veracity.
I could go on, but what's the point - had this been presented as a work of fiction, it would have been considered poorly researched, sketchy and without much point. As a work of historical fact, it has no credibility whatsoever. An extremely poor book.
Masquerading as historical fact, reported, in great detail, speech from two people alone in a desert immediately begins to make the reader feel he is being conned.
And thus when the author jumps to huge conclusions with very little evidence to substantiate it elsewhere throughout the book, one is slightly inclined to question its veracity.
I could go on, but what's the point - had this been presented as a work of fiction, it would have been considered poorly researched, sketchy and without much point. As a work of historical fact, it has no credibility whatsoever. An extremely poor book.
July 4, 2016
No references, mainly hearsay and many facts incorrect. Although written in 2000 Before much of the relevant facts were declassified, this author does not seem to have read the National archive files available at that time. Other authors managed to obtain far more accurate information. Not for the serious WW2 reader.
May 10, 2026
A reasonable statement on Admiral Canaris and his Abwehr secret service. In some ways quite detailed, in others ways it glosses over things and doesn’t have substantiated facts. Furthermore most seems to be from discussions the authors has had with someone but nothing is really referenced anywhere for someone to carry out their own research.
May 14, 2022
Interesting book, some have said its not accurate. Even so, it is still interesting
June 18, 2022
Fascinating book, meticulously researched. Really enjoyed it and looking forward to reading another of his books - Warriors of Death.
December 10, 2017
Charles Whiting or Duncan Harding or K.N. Kostov or John Kerrigan or Klaus Konrad or Leo Kessler or whatever name the author goes by this time, paints a vivid picture of the covert operations during the second world war. The situations are described in exhaustive detail, like weather conditions, smells, sounds, sights. He even has insight into the thoughts and motivations of the subjects, their feelings and fears, if they are hot or cold, if they are sweating profusely or shivering uncontrollably.
All of these statements ranging from the trivial to the fantastic are mostly, if not all, unsupported. Depending on how strict you adhere to proper reference technique. Assurances that someone said this or did that. Quotes with no reference. There are even quotes not attributed to anyone and without reference.
On occasion the author claims to have "been told by the subject" when making a claim. But for this to be anything more than just a claim the correspondence or interview has to be available for review. Otherwise whats to say the author is accurate in his retelling of the statements made or even that the interview ever happened in the first place. Furthermore, if it was an interview it has to be recorded for it to be verifiable and not just notes taken by the interviewer. Nowhere is this available. But I'm sure a guy with countless pseudonyms writing about a defeated foe is trustworthy in his unsupported claims of murderous crimes and sexual perversions...
Apparently the author, what ever his name is, have written many works of fiction, I can only assume this is one of them, and not a very good one at that.
All of these statements ranging from the trivial to the fantastic are mostly, if not all, unsupported. Depending on how strict you adhere to proper reference technique. Assurances that someone said this or did that. Quotes with no reference. There are even quotes not attributed to anyone and without reference.
On occasion the author claims to have "been told by the subject" when making a claim. But for this to be anything more than just a claim the correspondence or interview has to be available for review. Otherwise whats to say the author is accurate in his retelling of the statements made or even that the interview ever happened in the first place. Furthermore, if it was an interview it has to be recorded for it to be verifiable and not just notes taken by the interviewer. Nowhere is this available. But I'm sure a guy with countless pseudonyms writing about a defeated foe is trustworthy in his unsupported claims of murderous crimes and sexual perversions...
Apparently the author, what ever his name is, have written many works of fiction, I can only assume this is one of them, and not a very good one at that.
February 24, 2022
Interesting book packed with information but somewhat difficult to follow because the story is so convoluted. Could have been better written for people who don't already know the background.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews