The Spies Who Never Were cover art

The Spies Who Never Were

The True Story of the Nazi Spies Who Were Actually Allied Double Agents

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The Spies Who Never Were

By: Hervie Haufler
Narrated by: Derek Perkins
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About this listen

After the fall of France in the mid-1940s, Adolf Hitler faced a British Empire that refused to negotiate for peace. With total war looming, he ordered the Abwehr, Germany's defense and intelligence organization, to carry out Operation Lena - a program to place information-gathering spies within Britain.

Quickly, a network of secret agents spread within the United Kingdom and across the British Empire. A master of disguises, a professional safecracker, a scrubwoman, a diplomat's daughter - they all reported news of the Allied defenses and strategies back to their German spymasters. One Yugoslav playboy codenamed "Tricycle" infiltrated the highest echelon of British society and is said to have been one of Ian Fleming's models for James Bond.

The stunning truth, though, was that every last one of these German spies had been captured and turned by the British. As double agents, they sent a canny mix of truth and misinformation back to Hitler, all carefully controlled by the Allies. As one British report put it: "By means of the double agent system, we actually ran and controlled the German espionage system in this country."

©2006 Hervie Haufler (P)2020 Tantor Europe Freedom & Security Great Britain Military Politics & Government Espionage War England Royalty Imperialism France King Interwar Period

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All stars
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great book with lots of detail. very easy narrator and lots of interesting facts. highly recommended

very easy to listen to

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I loved it.
I've heard a similar talking books on exactly the same subject, which although interesting were so detailed they lacked the entertainment value this version contains.

Superb

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Thoroughly enjoyed it. The narration was superb. Those brave men and women continue to impress me.

Excellent listen

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Having just finished various recordings by Giles Milton, Ben Macintyre and others, this read like a very abridged set of exam notes. Good for an introduction, go deeper. The full story is literally fantastic.

exam notes

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Enjoyed this, it's a bit dry though. Part 1 outlines every character one by one where I personally would have preferred to hear each person's story in full one by one. A bunch of unsung heroes are discussed though and stuff I never knew about.

Interesting

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Original, exciting true account of secret operations. Gripping from start to finish. Informative and inspiring. Recommended.

The audacity and originality of clandestine operations.

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