Hoodwinking Hitler: The Normandy Deception [Hardcover]

William B. Breuer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 30, 1993 | ISBN-10: 0275944387 | ISBN-13: 978-0275944384

Despite the mighty invasion force the Americans and British mustered in England in early 1944, a top Allied general warned: "If the Germans have even a 48-hour advance notice of the time and place of the Normandy landings, we could suffer a monstrous catastrophe!" For his part, Adolf Hitler planned to inflict such a massive bloodbath on the invaders that the Allies would agree to a negotiated peace with Nazi Germany. Hoodwinking Hitler is an action-packed, you-are-there account about a colossal and incredibly intricate deception scheme created and implemented by ingenious and diabolical minds, machinations intended to bamboozle the Germans on true Allied invasion plans. Facets of the global chicanery included electronic spoofing, double agents, diplomatic deceit, whispering campaigns, femmes fatales, camouflage, strategic feints, the French underground, murder plots, phony military installations, misleading bombing raids, sabotage, propaganda, traps, fake codes, and kidnap schemes. On D-Day, June 6, 1944, the Allies gained total surprise, mostly because of what Winston Churchill called "the greatest hoax in history." But not until two months later, when the Allies broke out of Normandy, did the deception scheme pass into history. By that time, ultimate Allied victory in Europe was assured.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Plan Bodyguard, an intricate scheme designed to deceive the Germans about the date and location of the Allied cross-Channel invasion, was a success: the June 6, 1944 landings on the beaches of Normandy took the Germans by surprise. That such a gargantuan undertaking could be kept secret from the enemy has been difficult to understand. In Breuer's suspenseful, detailed narrative he shows how "the greatest hoax in history," as Winston Churchill called it, was accomplished. A major element in the complicated plan was a ruse encouraging the Germans to believe that massive formations under General George Patton were preparing to land at Pas de Calais. Another aspect was the bogus radio traffic of the fictitious Fourth Army, supposedly assembling in Scotland. Still another was the performance of an actor who impersonated General Bernard Montgomery so convincingly during an "inspection tour" at Gibraltar that the Germans concluded that Montgomery was about to lead an Allied invasion into southern France. Breuer ( Retaking the Philippines ) describes the D-Day invasion itself, the hard fighting that followed and the Allied breakout from Normandy that marked one of the turning points of WW II. Illustrations. Military Book Club main selection.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

In this account of the deception about the timing and locale of the June 1944 Normandy invasion of Europe, there is plotting galore intertwined with agents, double agents, code-breakers, intelligence, counter-intelligence, camouflage, and diplomacy--all dedicated to masking the route of the actual invasion. Each plan is treated meticulously and in depth up to the assault waves on Normandy, D-Day, June 6. The Allies achieved complete surprise with "the greatest hoax in history." Breuer seems to have made a career of World War II, with 12 books now out in paperback, eight of which became main selections of the Military Book Club--including this one. Although much of the material is old hat, with the D-Day story massively covered, Breuer keeps the story moving despite bombarding us with minutiae. For libraries with a World War II clientele.
- Ralph DeLucia, Willoughby Wallace Lib., Branford, Ct.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 298 pages
• Publisher: Praeger Publishers (March 30, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0275944387
• ISBN-13: 978-0275944384
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #811,316 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Read, December 26, 2007

By 

S. R. Walton (Columbia, MD USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hoodwinking Hitler: The Normandy Deception (Hardcover)

This book was actually an assigned text for one of my Naval Postgraduate School courses. I read it while in Fallujah. This is simply a phenomenal book! It reads quickly, is very interesting, and gives the reader an appreciation for how massive the Allied deception campaign was in the months leading up to the invasion of Normandy.

To the reader who gave this book one star, I am not sure anyone, other than Adolf Hitler, will ever know what he did or did not believe. One point that all readers should appreciate is that the author was a private who waded ashore on June 6, 1944 and survived an event without parallel in the European Theater of World War 2. The author has my utmost respect and admiration. Excellent book!

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply excellent!, May 13, 2004

By 

DS "DS" (Greece) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hoodwinking Hitler: The Normandy Deception (Hardcover)

Very well written with a plethora of little-known facts. Breuer uses small chapters constructing the big view of the D-Day deception operations in a fascinating way, making the book to be read like a thriller. No major mistakes are included in the military aspects of the subject (like the commanding officers, the allied and german orders of battle etc.) while a lot of interesting information is presented in a marvellous way. Especially enjoyable are the many interesting details of the personalities involved.

2 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars purely fictional entertainment, August 24, 2004

By 

codeyellow "codeyellow" (Bronx, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hoodwinking Hitler: The Normandy Deception (Hardcover)

This book is just another attempt at selling interesting sounding ,far-fetched assertations.They are many gross mistakes not only in the text,but also in the illustration captions.For instance,one of his captions claims that hitler predicted the Normandy landing at Pas decalais,instead of Normandy.The fact is hitler did indead predict Normandy,while others did not share in his view.Also,a Skorzeny attempt at killing Roosevelt.Hoodwinking hitler makes a great fictional novel based on real people,but it's research and historical accuracy lack.