In 1942, with a black-market chicken under his arm, Leo Marks left his father's famous bookshop, 84 charing cross road, and went to war. He was twenty-two and a cryptographer of genius. In 'Between Silk and Cyanide', his critically acclaimed account of his time in SOE, Marks tells how he revolutionized the code-making techniques of the Allies, trained some of the most famous agents, who dropped into France including Violette Szabo and 'the White Rabbit', and why he wrote haunting verses including his 'The Life that I have' poem. He reveals for the first time the disastrous dimensions of the code war between SOE and the Germans in Holland; how the Germans were fooled into thinking a Secret Army was operating in the Fatherland itself; and how and why he broke General de Gaulle's secret code. Both thrilling and Poignant, Marks' book is truly one of the last great Second World War memoirs.
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Amazon Review
Twenty-three is awfully young to find yourself with the power of life and death...Leo Marks failed the examination to go and work on codes at Bletchley by being just too good and too much of a smart aleck. Instead, he was imposed on a not entirely willing Special Operations Executive (SOE) to teach coding to agents dropped into Europe and to decode the sometimes indecipherable messages they sent back at great risk to their lives. His speeches to his staff on the mortal danger of slowness or carelessness are classics of guilt-tripping. Absence of mistakes made him suspect that the Germans had captured SOE's Dutch agents--his youth and personality meant that his superiors were slow to believe him. In his spare time, he revolutionized cryptography by inventing one-time-only pads, and wrote poems for agents to use as keys--including the poem associated with Violette Szabo, "Odette".
This is a moving memoir of the agents like Odette and Noor Inayat Khan, whose fates we already know and whom he tried in vain to protect. This is a powerful memoir of war, responsibility and guilt; Marks, hitherto famous as screenwriter on Peeping Tom and son of the 84 Charing Cross Road family, has written a classic. --Roz Kaveney --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
Martin Scorsese "Between Silk and Cyanide" is a mesmerizing account of World War II as fought on the home front in Great Britain by the ingenious codemakers whose work determined the life and death of the Allied agents in occupied Europe. Leo Marks, a brilliant cryptographer, is a masterful and passionate storyteller. I was immediately swept into his secret world of codes and "undecipherables," trying at times (without success) to unravel the puzzles myself, and found it difficult to put down the book until the drama had come to an end.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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First Sentence
In January 1942 I was escorted to the war by my parents in case I couldn't find it or met with an accident on the way. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
In January 1942 I was escorted to the war by my parents in case I couldn't find it or met with an accident on the way. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
33 of 33 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Every other book written about cryptography has, for me, been overly serious and thus tends to be very hard to become immersed in. This is where Leo Marks' excellent account of his exploits in SOE differs. He tells his amazing, moving and tragic story with a wonderful sense of humour that allows the reader to become involved in the agents he describes. Marks very cleverly observes his colleagues' characters and brings the SOE to life in a way that no other book has managed. I thoroughly recommend this book to anyone, a previous interest is not essential, as I was unable to put it down until the very last page.
24 of 24 people found the following review helpful
By Andrew Kerr
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
I can honestly say this is the best book I have read - fiction or non-fiction. Marks hasn't lost any of the cheeky humour that got him into so much trouble early in his military career during the war. What's less obvious from his own accounts of his early life is how he became such an outstanding writer.
This book has everything - it's very informative, consistently gripping and sways between humour and heartache in equal measure.
Marks keeps the pace going throughout the book and deftly intertwines his owns accounts of his time in the SOE with a superb account of his contacts with Captain Forest Frederick Yeo-Thomas (better known as The White Rabbit).
As a factual account of wartime codebreaking, this book easily stands up in its own right. The fact that it's such a great read is just a bonus.
I can't recommend it highly enough. Which is why I've already bought 7 more copies as gifts!
22 of 22 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Leo Marks (son of the owner of 84 Charing Cross Road) set off to war at a tender age clutching a railway ticket and a black market chicken and ended up in less than a year as one of the key people in Britain's war effort. I took this book on holiday and found it almost impossible to put down. It is a masterly summary of the struggle against petty bureaucracy and inter-departmental politics combined with Marks's complete faith in his own not inconsiderable abilities. He briefed allied agents being sent into occupied Europe, invented new codes and ciphers, deduced that the SOE infrastructure in Holland had been blown wide open by the Germans and many other things beside. Marks is a brilliant and truly fascinating individual.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating
This is a first class well written book. If you are interested in the work of SOE, then read this book. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Chelsea Boy
3.0 out of 5 stars
Condition
The book was very good reading,but. the condtion not that good.The price was well out of line,considering it was an ex ibrary and cost around 10p and you charging over £14+post.
Published 2 months ago by Kenneth Martin
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of my top ten books
I bought the paperback version of this book in 2000 and must have read it half a dozen times. It is well written, gripping and educational without ever being boring or predictable. Read more
Published 3 months ago by P. Ward
3.0 out of 5 stars
beale norman
probably the best book I have read as an adult I have given only three stars as my kindle wont accept the other two. a truly brilliant book. Read more
Published 4 months ago by beale Norman
5.0 out of 5 stars
History, organizational science and an entertaining thriller all in...
For three types of readers this is a really great book:
For historians because this book contains the key to understanding Englandspiel
For organizational... Read more
For historians because this book contains the key to understanding Englandspiel
For organizational... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Hugh van der Mandele
5.0 out of 5 stars
Code-breaking
This is a fascinating account of code-breaking and related activities during World War 2. In addition to being informative, it is humorous. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Judith Birch
3.0 out of 5 stars
We get that you're clever already
Leo Marks, the author has a great tale to tell. The only problem is, Leo Marks. He has some fascinating insight into the workings of the code makers and breakers of The Second... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Smarty Marty Hammo
4.0 out of 5 stars
A flawed edition of a marvellous book
This is one of the most startling, moving, funny and admirable books that I have ever read. It is also one of the worst proof-read. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Ms. J. Jones
5.0 out of 5 stars
Gripping
Right from Chapter One, with its clever, amusing and often sardonic wording, Leo Marks' book grips all the way through. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Mr. R. D. M. Kirby
5.0 out of 5 stars
War Book
This item was bought for someone as a present who is very interested to read about books of this era. A very informative read.
Published 17 months ago by Mr. Raymond Wicks
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