Operation Mincemeat: Ben Macintyre On World War II"s Greatest Deception Plot Against The Nazis

The below link is to a BBC TV program that dramatized Operation Mincemeat, the greatest World War II deception.

Ben Macintyre, the author of Operation Mincemeat: How a Dead Man & a Bizarre Plan Fooled the Nazis and Assured Allied Victory, hosts and narrates the BBC program.

The program offers a suspenseful, fascinating and compelling story of how British Naval Intelligence used a dead man to deceive Hitler and the Nazis into believing the allies planned to invade Greece rather than the true target, Sicily.

The plot was a "mad idea" originally conceived by Commander Ian Fleming (seen in the below photo), a British naval intelligence officer who would go on to write the James Bond thrillers after the war. 

You can watch the clever and entertaining program via the below link to Youtube.com:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5570fDdBOQ

You can also read about Macintyre's excellent book via the below link to an earlier post:

http://pauldavisoncrime.blogspot.com/2010/01/operation-mincemeat-true-story-that.html

I interviewed Ben Macintyre about his earlier book on Eddie Chapman, a British crook who became one of World War II's most daring double agents.

You can read the interview at GreatHistory.com via the below link:

http://pauldavisoncrime.blogspot.com/2009/12/agent-zigzag-story-of-one-of-world-war_11.html 

Screenwriter And Director Hired For Upcoming Film Of True World War II Spy Story, Agent Zigzag

Indiewire.com reports that Rowan Joffe has been hired to pen the screenplay of a film adaptation of Ben Macintrye's outstanding true World War II spy story, Agent Zigzag. Mike Newell has been hired to direct the film.

Macintyre's book covered the incredible story of a British criminal, Eddie Chapman, who was a double agent for the British against the Nazis.

You can read the Indiewire.com piece via the below link:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/archives/2011/02/16/rowan_joffe_to_write_wwii_thriller_agent_zizag_with_mike_newell_to_direct/

You can also read my three-part Greathistory.com interview with Ben Macintyre via the below links:

http://greathistory.com/agent-zigzag-the-story-of-one-of-wwiis-most-daring-double-agents.htm

http://greathistory.com/agent-zigzag-the-story-of-one-of-world-war-iis-most-daring-double-agents-part-ii.htm

http://greathistory.com/agent-zigzag-the-story-of-one-of-world-war-iis-most-daring-double-agents-part-iii.htm

You can read more about the book and the true spy story at the publisher's web site via the below link:

http://www.randomhouse.com/crown/zigzag/

Ben Macintyre, the author of Operation Mincement and other books on espionage, on five great spy books

Ben Macintyre, a London Times columnist and author of several books on espionage, including his latest, Operation Mincemeat: How a Dead Man and a Bizarre Plan Fooled the Nazis and Assured an Allied Victory, offered his list of five great books on espionage.

 

 

You can read the piece via the link below:

 

http://fivebooks.com/interviews/ben-macintyre-on-spies

 

Macintyre is a very good writer and he is very knowledgeable of the history of espionage, and although I love the Brit spy thriller writers, especially Ian Fleming, I don't agree with his assessment that American spy thriller writers don't compare to the British.

 

I offer Charles McCarry's Tears of Autumn and Richard Condon's The Manchurian Candidate as but two examples of American spy thrillers that can stand along side the great British spy thrillers.
 

 

Below is a link to a previous post on Macintyre's Operation Mincemeat:

 

http://pauldavisoncrime.blogspot.com/2010/01/operation-mincemeat-true-story-that.html

 

Below are the links to my interview with Macintyre about his book Agent ZigZag, which is about one of the most daring double agents in World War II, Eddie Chapman:

 

http://greathistory.com/agent-zigzag-the-story-of-one-of-wwiis-most-daring-double-agents.htm

 

http://greathistory.com/agent-zigzag-the-story-of-one-of-world-war-iis-most-daring-double-agents-part-ii.htm

 

http://greathistory.com/agent-zigzag-the-story-of-one-of-world-war-iis-most-daring-double-agents-part-iii.htm

 

My On Espionage Column: My Q&A With Ben Macintyre, Author of 'Agent ZigZag: The Story of One of World War II's Most Daring Double Agents,' Part II

GreatHistory.com has published the second column of my series on Eddie Chapman, the con man and crook that became one of the most daring double agents in World War II.

 

Captured by the Nazis early in the war and imprisoned, Chapman used his con man skills to convince the Nazis that he would make a good spy and saboteur for them against the British.

 

The Nazis trained Chapman in spy tradecraft and had him parachute back into England. Once on the ground, he turned himself into the British Security Services. The British then turned the crook into a double agent against the Nazis.

 

Ben Macintrye, a writer-at-large and associate editor to the London Times, has written a very interesting book about Chapman called Agent ZigZag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love and Betrayal (Harmony).

 

I interviewed Ben Macintyre and you can read part two of my series via the link below:

 

http://greathistory.com/agent-zigzag-the-story-of-one-of-world-war-iis-most-daring-double-agents-part-ii.htm 

My On Espionage Column: My Q & A With Ben Macintyre, Author of 'Agent ZigZag: A True Story of One of World War II's Most Daring Double Agent,' Part One

GreatHistory.com published part one of my interview with Ben Macintyre, a writer-at-large and associate editor of the London Times, and the author of a fascinating book on Eddie Chapman, who was one of World War II's most daring double agents.

Chapman, a safecracker, con man and philanderer, was captured by the Nazis on the Island of Jersey in 1939. He convinced the Germans that he would make a good spy for them against the British and they trained him and dropped him by parachute into England. Once on the ground, he turned himself in to British intelligence. British Intelligence turned him into a double agent.

You can read my column via the below link:

http://greathistory.com/agent-zigzag-the-story-of-one-of-wwiis-most-daring-double-agents.htm