Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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43 of 51 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Comments by Michael Calum Jacques, author of '1st Century Radical'., 3 Dec 2008
Firstly, may I begin on stating that I endorse every statement made by the previous reviewer, Tristan Edwards. His review represents this work accurately and perceptively. This reviewer is surprised that anybody could fail to find that previous review helpful.
This reviewer would like to present some biographical data about the author of 'Wizards'. Nicholas Rankin is a well-known name in broadcasting and, now, in historical literature too,especially since his book Dead Man's Chest (which traced the steps of Robert Louis Stevenson's between Scotland and Samoa)and Telegram from Guernica, an extremely well received treatise on the life of the war-correspondent and propagandist, George Lowther Steer 1909 - 1944). Rankin, then is seasoned in the dual disciplines of communication and of historical research. 'Wizards' combines these disciplines with thoroughness and esprit.
The author sets the historical context very carefully, whilst maintaining the readers concentration and interest (as observed by the previous reviewer) with deft phrases and vivid, sometimes terse, descriptive phraseology and terminology.
By the time the Second World War 'occurred', the British military and secret services had become masters of the art of deception. This book chronicles their achievements, despite the difficulties in obtaining 'the full story' in certain instances; British geniuses cracked what had appeared to be apparently impenetrable German secret codes and were able to glean intelligence from their messages. Apprehended German spies were used to send back false information to officers.
And there is more ... much more; in short, Nicholas Rankin entertainingly presents the reader with well-researched heroic episodes about the hurriedly assembled band of 'creative mavericks' who purloined a victory in what that phrase-smith Churchill referred to as 'the war of the Unknown Warriors'. As alluded to earlier, some of the material was apparently not that easy to obtain; "Official secrecy has weighed heavily on the subject", Rankin says. As well as making the finished project an even greater achievement, that fact renders this work even more commendable to the general reader and valuable to the interested historian.
Michael Calum Jacques (author of 1st Century Radical: the shadowy origins of the man who became known as Jesus Christ)
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61 of 77 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wizardry!, 14 Oct 2008
I must start by saying that 'Churchill's Wizards' is first and foremost a great read. Nicholas Rankin has managed to turn what at first sight may seem like a forbiddingly esoteric subject into a thoroughly accessible and engaging narrative full of intrigue and incident. This is in no small part down to some very accomplished writing, which throughout the book is always adding splashes of colour to the blacks and whites of historical fact. The rather wonderful picture of Gavrilo Princip at the start of the book, `a tubercular and weedy-looking youth,' consoling himself with a sandwich in Moritz Schiller's cafe after a failed attempt on the life of the Archduke and just before he was to be given a second chance by way of the infamous `wrong turn', is a case in point I think.
`Wizards' story of the secret wars of deception that were fought beneath the surface of the two World Wars is as surprising as it is fascinating. The tales of ingenuity, audacity and at times damn right eccentricity that characterised the British deceptions and ruses are each interesting in their own right and are invariably drawn with much humour and heart. But it is how these portraits fit into the bigger picture that will have the reader gripped; as `Wizards' reworks the annals of war from the perspective of deception. Giving us fresh takes on familiar campaigns and events like `Gallipoli' and `D-day' that have been all but exhausted by books and films.
I have to say that Mr Rankin does this with all the subtlety and skill of one of his 'camofluers': seamlessly integrating vast tracts of unfamiliar territory into the well-trodden historical landscapes of the first and second World Wars. But rather than hollowed-out trees and dummy tanks what one can expect to find when they examine this book is something of real substance. That is, a superbly crafted piece of scholarship that is hugely informative and very, very readable.
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8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Some good bits but terribly unfocused, 12 Mar 2009
This book has several sections that are very interesting, cover new ground and show how Britain successfully used deception in WW1 and WW2.
However, the book also suffers from two big problems. Both seem to derive from the 'popular historian' nature of the author.
Firstly, there are huge chunks of material that are simply irrelevant to the book's subject. Large pieces on the general passage of the war (battles, politics) that pad several chapters and also descriptions of military units and people that don't actually have any part in any deception.
Secondly, the author loves diary and memoir anecdotes too much. They may be amusing or emotional but they don't necessarily add to the weight of the book's arguments.
In all, I can't recommend the book too much. It could be a good book on deception but, properly edited, it would be a pamphlet rather than this tome.
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