Forgotten Voices of the Secret War
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MRD Foot, Literary Review
"Roderick Bailey's assembly of tales deserves a warm welcome, both for readability - there is not a dull page - and for surprise: a great deal of it is unkown to a general public"
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
The Spectator
"Told through interviews recorded by the Imperial War Museum...Roderick Bailey has skilfully braided their stories into a coherent narrative, and the quality of their egregious courage catches at the heart."
--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
47 of 48 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
My father was an SOE agent in the Second World War. I never knew him and had virtually no knowledge of his wartime exploits. This fascinating and carefully constructed book by Roderick Bailey, based as it is on recorded conversations held with SOE agents themselves, brings to life the experiences (from the terrifying to the hilarious) that they, and my father among them, went through. The Forgotten Voices Of The Secret War has enabled me to appreciate his bravery, and be proud of him. I recommend it to anyone with an interest in the extraordinairy courage of the men and women who put themselves forward for SOE operations.
43 of 44 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This superb book of secret agents' recollections is the latest in the Imperial War Museum's magnificent `Forgotten Voices' series, which draws on the museum's vast archive of original interviews with veterans. This edition tells the story of Britain's Special Operations Executive, the secret army set up in 1940 to help resistance and carry out sabotage behind enemy lines. It is an absolute must-read for anyone interested in the Second World War.
The book gripped me from start to finish. With skill and balance, Roderick Bailey has selected and structured a powerful collection of eyewitness accounts of extraordinary deeds to take your breath away. Here are stories of hand-to-hand fights with Gestapo agents in French apartments, of guerrilla fighting in the Balkans, of ambushes in the Burmese jungle. Time and again I was astonished at the courage of the young men and women who volunteered for this dangerous duty. And no one could fail to be moved by the testimonies of agents who fell into enemy hands and were sent to concentration camps.
SOE is famous for its agents in France, and `Forgotten Voices of the Secret War' contains plenty of tales from men and women who had worked with resistance there. But as the book also shows, there was much more to SOE than that. Norwegian SOE agents disrupted Hitler's atomic bomb plans. Czech agents assassinated Himmler's deputy. Dozens of Polish agents parachuted back into Poland. Other agents parachuted into the Low Countries, Denmark, Austria, Albania, Yugoslavia, Greece and Italy and fought the Japanese across the Far East. Their stories are told too.
Roderick Bailey has also done SOE a great service by raising the `voices' of instructors and staff officers at headquarters and of RAF aircrew who dropped agents behind the lines. It is also good to hear from the unsung backroom boffins who invented SOE's specialist weapons, and from the girls of the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry who, among a host of important roles, manned SOE radio sets at base.
As this excellent book demonstrates, allowing gallant men and women to tell their own stories in their own words is perhaps the most powerful method of getting across the human experience of war. Highly recommended.
The book gripped me from start to finish. With skill and balance, Roderick Bailey has selected and structured a powerful collection of eyewitness accounts of extraordinary deeds to take your breath away. Here are stories of hand-to-hand fights with Gestapo agents in French apartments, of guerrilla fighting in the Balkans, of ambushes in the Burmese jungle. Time and again I was astonished at the courage of the young men and women who volunteered for this dangerous duty. And no one could fail to be moved by the testimonies of agents who fell into enemy hands and were sent to concentration camps.
SOE is famous for its agents in France, and `Forgotten Voices of the Secret War' contains plenty of tales from men and women who had worked with resistance there. But as the book also shows, there was much more to SOE than that. Norwegian SOE agents disrupted Hitler's atomic bomb plans. Czech agents assassinated Himmler's deputy. Dozens of Polish agents parachuted back into Poland. Other agents parachuted into the Low Countries, Denmark, Austria, Albania, Yugoslavia, Greece and Italy and fought the Japanese across the Far East. Their stories are told too.
Roderick Bailey has also done SOE a great service by raising the `voices' of instructors and staff officers at headquarters and of RAF aircrew who dropped agents behind the lines. It is also good to hear from the unsung backroom boffins who invented SOE's specialist weapons, and from the girls of the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry who, among a host of important roles, manned SOE radio sets at base.
As this excellent book demonstrates, allowing gallant men and women to tell their own stories in their own words is perhaps the most powerful method of getting across the human experience of war. Highly recommended.
36 of 37 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
"Forgotten Voices" is a great series of compilations of first-hand accounts from those who were directly involved in various wars and this title on the SOE by Roderick Bailey is one of the best. I found it gripping reading, and at times very moving. Learning about the experiences, thoughts, concerns etc of the very brave men and women who took part - in their own words - is fascinating and I think Bailey has done a great job in selecting the content to create a real tribute to the SOE. If you have an interest in the SOE, 2nd World War, or like me just working your way through the series it's definitely worth a read!
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Forgotten Voices of the Secret War.
A fascinating book, but the lay out did not make it an easy read,
but once I got into it, I could cope with it, and found it very interesting,
moving and sad.
but once I got into it, I could cope with it, and found it very interesting,
moving and sad.
Published 1 month ago by D. J. Lay
the sos in ww2.
I knew very little about the work of SOE before I read this book.
This book is a fascinating read using the personal accounts of SOE personnel and the various clandestine... Read more
This book is a fascinating read using the personal accounts of SOE personnel and the various clandestine... Read more
Published 11 months ago by road nomad
DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK!
The men and women of the SOE were brave to the point of absurdity and they deserve a far better book than this. Read more
Published 13 months ago by scousemike
superb and alive
a superb and endlessly fascinating first hand compilation of interviews with SOE veterans round the world. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Ms. Vanessa Wagstaff
And Your Point Is?
Some of the names of those testifying in these pages are well-known (George Millar, Francis Cammaerts, Ben Cowburn, Bickham Sweet-Escott) and one or two even world-famous (Odette... Read more
Published on 9 Dec 2009 by Ian Millard
excellent
if your looking for an overview of soe this isn't for you but if you are looking to expand your knowledge about the men and women then this is for you. Read more
Published on 23 Nov 2009 by Mr. Pj Williams
Forgotten Voices of the Secret War
I agree with most of the other reviewers. This book is extremely well put together, with a wealth of primary source anecdotes. Read more
Published on 26 Oct 2009 by IAN K GLEN
Makes you feel rather humble!
This is obviously a collection of thoughts and adventures by many brave people who fought their own type of underground war. Read more
Published on 26 Oct 2009 by S. J. Mills
Excellent collection of SOE agents' memories
This book is based on recorded interviews with SOE agents who tell history in their own words. I found that these individuals' accounts give a fascinating insight. Read more
Published on 12 July 2009 by JUM
Great for those interested in the human side of war
I am not a huge fan of the sort of military history books that concentrate on strategy and campaigns without showing what war is really like on a human level. Read more
Published on 15 Aug 2008 by Guy Edward
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