Operation Heartbreak and The Man Who Never Was : The Original Story of 'Operation Mincemeat' - Both Fact and Fiction - by the Men Who Were There

In the early hours of 30 April 1943, a corpse, wearing the uniform of an officer in the Royal Marines, was slipped into the waters off the south-west coast of Spain. With it was a briefcase, in which were papers detailing an imminent Allied invasion of Greece. As the British had anticipated, the supposedly neutral government of Fascist Spain turned the papers over to the Nazi High Command, who swallowed the story whole. It was perhaps the most decisive bluff of all time, for the Allies had no such plan: the purpose of 'Operation Mincemeat' was to blind the German High Command to their true objective – an attack on Southern Europe through Sicily. Though officially shrouded in secrecy, the operation soon became legendary (in part owing to Churchill's post-war habit of telling the story at dinner). It gave rise to two very different books. In 1950 came Duff Cooper's poignant novel Operation Heartbreak, a romantic tale, one which the government – right up to PM Clement Attlee – attempted to suppress. Its publication prompted the intelligence services to pressurize the operation's mastermind, Ewen Montagu, into writing a factual account, The Man Who Never Was. Spellmount are proud to present these two accounts, fictional and factual, of one of the greatest intelligence operations ever undertaken, with an introduction by Duff Cooper's son, John Julius Norwich. In the early hours of 30 April 1943, a corpse, wearing the uniform of an officer in the Royal Marines, was slipped into the waters off the south-west coast of Spain. With it was a briefcase, in which were papers detailing an imminent Allied invasion of Greece. As the British had anticipated, the supposedly neutral government of Fascist Spain turned the papers over to the Nazi High Command, who swallowed the story whole. it was perhaps the most decisive bluff of all time, for the Allies had not such plan: the purpose of 'Operation Mincemeat' was to blind the German High Command to their true objective - an attack on Southern Europe through Sicily. Though officially shrouded in secrecy, the operation soon became legendary (in part owing to Churchill's post-war habit of telling the story at dinner). it gave rise to two very different books. In 1950 came Duff Cooper's poignant nvel Operation Heartbreak, a romantic tale, one which the government - right up to PM Clement Attlee - atempted to suppress. Its publication prompted the intelligence service to pressurise the operation's mastermind, Ewen Montagu, into writing a factual account, The Man Who Never Was. This book presents two accounts, fictional and factual, of one of the greatest intelligence operations ever undertaken, with an introduction by Duff Cooper's son, John Julius Norwich. "Operation Heartbreak is a work of jewel-like brevity and intensity." New York Herald Tribune The greatest deception of the Second World War – and possibly in the whole of military history – took place in April 1943 when a body was found floating in the sea off the Spanish coast. The documents found on him would eventually find their way to Hitler's desk and send German troops hurtling in the wrong direction. The dead man convinced the Axis powers that the Allies were about to attack Greece and not the real target, Sicily. The course of the war was changed. In this volume is a story within the original extraordinary story. Duff Cooper's only fictional work, Operation Heartbreak, was based upon the emotionally charged decision to use an anonymous corpse to weave the web of deceit. The British authorities tried to suppress the book because it would show the Spanish in a bad light, with Franco now in power. A change of heart followed and Ewen Montagu was encouraged to tell the whole story. Anyone who read Ben Macintyre's best-selling Operation Mincemeat will have to read this double volume to understand the full story. In 1950 came Duff Cooper's poignant navel Operation Heartbreak, a romantic tale, one which the government - right up to PM Clement Attlee - attempted to suppress.