Secrets & Spies - Behind the Scenes Stories of World War II

by Reader's Digest Association, Paul Calle (Illustrator), Guy Deel (Illustrator)

Many stories of fascinating secrets and spies during WW II.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, World War II, Historical, War, Military History, Espionage

576 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1963

About the author

The Reader's Digest Association, Inc. is a global media and direct marketing company based in Chappaqua, New York, best known for its flagship publication founded in 1922, Reader's Digest. The company's headquarters are in New York City, where it moved from Pleasantville, New York.

The company was founded by DeWitt and Lila Wallace in 1922 with the first publication of Reader's Digest magazine, but has grown to include a diverse range of magazines, books, music, DVDs and online content.

Reviews

[Jayna Baas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read through this at a pretty fast clip, so I didn’t fully absorb the details of each story. But they were interesting (sometimes fascinating) nonetheless. Since each story was written by a different author, there was a wide variety of styles, which was interesting. This also meant that some stories had more profanity than others. Since they’re all true stories, there’s no guarantee of happy endings. At the same time, this is Reader’s Digest from the fifties, so nothing is terribly graphic either. It’s interesting reading and does a good job highlighting good and bad on both sides and pointing out little-known heroes and villains.

[Christi M · Rating 5 out of 5]

My grandparents owned this book and when I visited them in the summer and needed something to read I picked up this book. Containing over 60 different behind the scene stories of World War II, written by different authors. Stories that even now I wouldn't know about if I hadn't happened to read the book. The book is in an easy-to-read format, and no story is ever too long.

- Spoiler Warning-
An example of one story is a story written by M.E. Clifton James called "I was Monty's Double". Leading up to D-Day, Germany knew an invasion was coming, but didn't know where. in the spring of 1944, M.E. Clifton James, an actor who had a remarkable resemblance to General Montgomery, received a call to aide the war efforts with his acting ability, where he was then asked to pretend to be General Montgomery in various regions and place where they knew planted spies were located. While there he was to attempt to spread false information about 'Plan303' in the hopes that the planted spies would take the information back to Germany and thus detract from the real location of where D-Day would occur. The book even contains a picture of General Montgomery and M.E. Clifton James and I must agree there is quite a resemblance.

If you ever run across this book, check it out - the stories are short and easy to read and some are very interesting.

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made me learn German!

Well, that and a childhood overdosing on fantastic stories from WW2. But this was the ringleader, and I definitely blame it.

It's Readers Digest, so it's condensed and truncated, and probably barely at an 6th grade level. But it nicely breaks down the War into sections. Most of the stories are little known and quite interesting. I'd like to see more anthologies like this.

Also: in retrospect, it seems somewhat similar to World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, which is a good thing! I'm wondering if Brooks channeled S&S at all?

[Octávio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Para quem gosta de histórias com espiões e companhia este é de facto um excelente livro, letra pequena, mas com pequenas histórias bastante interessante sobre o que se passou nos bastidores da Segunda Guerra Mundial.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I normally would not read a condensed type book, but this one was suprisingly informative. Lot's of tidbits of the war I did not know.

[Alana Cash · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very interesting book of stories about World War II that are rarely told. For example, the Nazis captured the Dutch resistance radio stations early in the war and broadcast to the allies for four years. Another example, it took six months for the Japanese to surrender after the emperor had decided the war was over. There's an condensed version of "The Longest Day," which explains the landing and why the Germans were not prepared. There were tricks on both sides that were fascinating.

[Harsh Thaker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intelligence, Counter Intelligence, Subterfuge, Ruse, Conspiracy, Deceit leading to the end of the WWII and it changed the world we live in today. Marvelous book which contains overt and covert ops carried out by Allies & Axis. The best of the lot is Attack on Pearl Harbor, The D - Day, Dropping of the First Atomic bomb etc.

It is a must read for military history buffs.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lost of detailed accounts of behind the scenes WWII history! I read the Normandy invasion from the German POV for the first time here.

[Greg Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Behind the scenes espionage of World War 2. Spies, tricks, all kinds of amazing stuff.

[Cws]

WW2-Rea

[Rob Scharen]

Little known stories about WW2 and the people who worked in the background to Make WW2 a success, Like the dumping of millions of silver coins into manila bay to keep the Japanese from getting them