The Spy Who Spent the War in Bed: And Other Bizarre Tales from World War II
240
The Spy Who Spent the War in Bed: And Other Bizarre Tales from World War II
240Paperback(First Edition)
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Overview
Acclaimed military historian William Breuer takes readers on a trip through the looking glass to acquaint them with the weirder side of World War II. Featuring a cast of characters including double- and triple-agents, femme fatales, fearless leaders, and men at arms, The Spy who Spent the War In Bed is a collection of seventy concise, vividly rendered tales of war, ranging from laugh-out-loud funny, to inspiring, to just-plain-bizarre. For instance, there's the one about how reputed Irish Republican Army members in New York conned Nazi intelligence out of a small fortune. There's also a thrilling account of how four American newsmen bagged an entire German platoon. And there's the haunting tale of the "Mystery Plane," an experimental aircraft that took off on a short test flight over England one sunny afternoon in 1938 and simply vanished into a cloudless summer sky. This book draws on personal interviews, official archives, and declassified documents, as well as the vast literature on World War II.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780471267393 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | TURNER PUB CO |
| Publication date: | 04/01/2003 |
| Edition description: | First Edition |
| Pages: | 240 |
| Product dimensions: | 6.14(w) x 9.26(h) x 0.65(d) |
About the Author
Table of Contents
Introduction.Part One—A Rocky Road to War.
Amazing Encounter at Pier 86.
A British “Mystery Plane” Vanishes.
A One-Man Espionage Apparatus.
Recruiting Crossword Puzzle Geniuses.
New York’s IRA Hoodwinks Spymaster.
Stalking a Soviet Defector.
Two Spies Roam British Ports.
Stealing Secrets by Mail.
“Simple Simon” Trips Himself Up.
A Taxi Ignores Theory.
The IRA Bilks the Abwehr.
Clash of Two Top Nazis.
Hitler’s Pipeline into Washington.
A Senator Helps a German Spy.
A Peculiar River Crossing.
Dame Fate Saves General Rommel.
Going in Style to a POW Camp.
Clanging Bells Rock Germany.
Did Prime Minister’s Mistress Influence Surrender?
Venus de Milo Fools Germans.
Part Two—The Allies’ Hours of Crises.
Mission: “Nazify” a Conquered Nation.
Curfew for Dutch Dogs and Ducks.
Wild Schemes for Saving England.
Curious Duel in British Skies.
A German Pilot’s Unlikely Captor.
The Royal Navy’s Invisible Ship.
Hitler’s Plot to Murder Franco.
A Cleaning Woman Foils Hitler.
The Battle of the Birds.
Roosevelt in a Shouting Match.
Democracy in a Battlefield Hospital.
Strange Means for Urgent Warning.
A Dedicated Blood-Bank Volunteer.
The Spymaster’s Peculiar Scheme.
A Pursuit of Bugs and Lice.
A Cantankerous Torpedo.
Curious Death of a German Bigwig.
Ernest Hemingway Stalks U-Boats.
Fluke Saves a British Fleet.
The War’s Craziest Wedding Scenario.
Two WACs on a Secret Mission.
Strange Place for Royal Jewels.
Part Three—The Tide Starts to Turn.
Navajo Code-Talkers Ignite Panic.
Adolf Hitler Plays Santa Claus.
Purple Heart Stripped from Sailor.
Saga of Top-Secret Maps.
Eisenhower Aide Helps Trick Germans.
The General’s Pants Go AWOL.
Mystery of the Vanishing Report.
Hostile Horsemen Chase Airplane.
A Dead Sergeant Walks Away.
A Tank Commander’s Close Call.
Espionage in the Vatican.
OSS Agent’s Hidden Bribes.
An Unlikely Spy Scores Coup.
Eisenhower Disclosure Stuns Reporters.
A Horrendous Bombing Error Pays Off.
Freak Encounter in No-Man’s-Land.
A Mule-Borne Commander.
The Captain Refused to Be Killed.
Two GIs Beat Patton to Goal.
“Prescriptions” for the Lady Spy.
Huge Bonus for a Jungle Spy.
“The Madame” Was a Secret Agent.
A Movie Fan on Bougainville.
A GI Carries His Eyeball.
Part Four—Beginning of the End.
An Odd Place for Spying.
Hitler’s “Creatures” at Anzio.
American Spymaster Shocks London.
Exciting Races on a Beachhead.
A Social Visit to the Enemy.
The Spy Who Spent the War in Bed.
Secret Agent Saved by a Blacksmith.
A Bomb Explodes Too Late.
An Ingenious Escape Artist.
A Prophetic German Cook.
Gods Smile on Teddy Roosevelt Jr.
“Don’t Worry . . . I’ll Shoot You First!”
An Enemy Saves “Father Sam”.
Firefighters Center of Attention.
The “Mess Sergeant” Was a Lady.
Massacre in the Wrong Village.
A General Turned Fire Chief.
The Great Soap Bubble Scheme.
A Triumph for Two OSS Men.
Four Newsmen Bag a German Platoon.
German Shoot-Out among Themselves.
Ordeal for Missing Identical Twins.
Parachute Pack Saves Trooper.
Drone Boats Go Berserk.
“Am I Having Hallucinations?”
A Doctor Captures a German Hospital.
A Colonel’s Unique “Uniform”.
Part Five—Allied Road to Victory.
Banzai Charge in a POW Camp.
A Nazi Zealot Obeys His Führer.
Miracle Saves Woman Spy’s Life.
The War’s Unexplained Mystery.
Dutch Boys Capture Nine Germans.
Luck Runs Out for the Blue Goose.
“Baby Patrol” in No-Man’s-Land.
Providence Saves a Polish Spy.
The Choirboys Plot to Doom Hitler.
“Kidnapping” a Thirty-Ton Tank.
A Hero “Resigns” from the Navy.
A Jeep Bonanza for “Scarface Otto”.
A Peculiar Reception Committee.
Hitler Humbles His Generals.
History Repeats for German Colonel.
A Jinxed Town in Belgium.
A Belgian Woman Halts the Panzers.
Hex by a Lieutenant’s Pal.
A Fluke Halts Eisenhower Trip.
A GI “Division” of Thieves.
The Miracle of Wiltz.
Unique Distinction for a Survivor.
Digging Up a Revered German Hero.
An Unlikely Battlefield Hero.
Part Six—A Shaky World Peace.
Amazing Scenario in Manila.
Death Stalks a Navy Pilot.
Shoot-Out at a Boxcar.
MacArthur Recaptures His Home.
Offering Up a Bonfire of Money.
A Tommy-Gunning Pilot.
Gods Smile on German General.
A Tail Gunner’s Miraculous Survival.
Curious Incident in a Command Post.
Hoax to Seize a Rhine Bridge.
Churchill “Consecrates” the Siegfried Line.
An Airman Dodges Certain Death.
Pilot’s Prayer Gets Results.
Glider Used as a Weapon.
His Masseur Coerces Himmler.
A Surrender-by-Telephone Tactic.
Kidnapping Polish Underground Leaders.
El Darbo’s Charmed Life.
Air Dogfight with Pistols.
Comic Opera in the Bavarian Alps.
Collaring a Nazi Bigwig.
Peculiar “Capture” of an SS Colonel.
Stalin’s Son in Strange Mission.
A Scheme to Blow Up Japan.
Odd Interlude on a Train.
A Soldier’s Thirty-Year War.
Notes and Sources.
Index.