Review
`Fascinating ...The complexities and consequences of the story that Macintyre tells in Operation Mincemeat are compelling - a tribute to his impressive abilities as a sleuth (ones that we've witnessed in his previous books) and to his capacities as a writer. He has the instincts of a novelist rather than a historian when it comes to elision , exposition, narrative and pace, and is depiction of character is vividly alive to nuance and idiosyncrasy . Like the best novelists, he understands that all people are fundamentally individual - odd and unique to themselves - and that stereotypes exist only in bad fiction, whether on the page or on screen' --William Boyd, The Times
`Ben Macintyre turns up trumps in this rollicking tale of a second world war mission to dupe the Germans by using a corpse bearing fictional military plans ... The cast of characters is irresistible, and Macintyre's enthusiasm for them richly merited ... a terrific book with exceptional photographs of everybody, including the corpse. Students of the second world war have been familiar with Mincemeat for many years, but Macintyre offers a mass of new detail, and enchanting pen portraits of the British, Spanish and German participants. His book is a rollicking read for all those who enjoy a spy story so fanciful that Ian Fleming - himself an officer in Montagu's wartime department - would never have dared to invent it'
--Max Hastings, Sunday Times
'Ben Macintyre has taken a well known story of wartime deception, embellished it, and shown that it was even more ingenious and even more risky than we had all supposed. -- Spectator, January 2010
'This true story of wartime deception is as creative and as cunning as a good spy novel.' -- Sunday Telegraph, February 2010
'Ben Macintyre skilfully breathes life into the diverse cast of characters involved in the plan, imaginatively fleshing out the colourful personalities on both sides.' -- Metro London
'Macintyre tells a 'rollicking' story with 'infectious glee'. -- The Week, February 2010
' ... they would surely applaud his skill in finally bringing all to life.'
-- Times
`Ben Macintyre turns up trumps in this rollicking tale of a second world war mission to dupe the Germans by using a corpse bearing fictional military plans ... The cast of characters is irresistible, and Macintyre's enthusiasm for them richly merited ... a terrific book with exceptional photographs of everybody, including the corpse. Students of the second world war have been familiar with Mincemeat for many years, but Macintyre offers a mass of new detail, and enchanting pen portraits of the British, Spanish and German participants. His book is a rollicking read for all those who enjoy a spy story so fanciful that Ian Fleming - himself an officer in Montagu's wartime department - would never have dared to invent it'
--Max Hastings, Sunday Times
'Ben Macintyre has taken a well known story of wartime deception, embellished it, and shown that it was even more ingenious and even more risky than we had all supposed. -- Spectator, January 2010
'This true story of wartime deception is as creative and as cunning as a good spy novel.' -- Sunday Telegraph, February 2010
'Ben Macintyre skilfully breathes life into the diverse cast of characters involved in the plan, imaginatively fleshing out the colourful personalities on both sides.' -- Metro London
'Macintyre tells a 'rollicking' story with 'infectious glee'. -- The Week, February 2010
' ... they would surely applaud his skill in finally bringing all to life.'
-- Times
Review
Praise for Agent Zigzag: 'Superb. Meticulously researched, splendidly told, immensely entertaining and often very moving' John le Carre 'A fascinating biography of this most astonishing and insouciant of double agents ... incredible' William Boyd 'This is the most amazing book, full of fascinating and hair-raising true life adventures ... it would be impossible to recommend it too highly' Mail on Sunday 'It is unlikely that a more engaging study of espionage and deception will be published this year' The Times
