Most Secret War (Wordsworth Military Library) [Paperback]

R. V. Jones (Author)

Book Description

Series: Wordsworth Military Library | Publication Date: August 1998

This text is Jones's account of his part in British Scientific Intelligence between 1939 and 1949. It was his responsibility to anticipate German applications of science to warfare, so that their new weapons could be countered before they were used. Much of his work had to do with radio navigation, as in the Battle of the Beams, with radar, as in the Allied Bomber Offensive and in the preparations for D-Day and in the war at sea. He was also in charge of intelligence against the V-1 (flying bomb) and the V-2 (rocket) retaliation weapons and, although the Germans were some distance behind from success, against their nuclear developments.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Reginald Victor Jones was an English physicist and scientific military intelligence expert who played an important role in the defence of Britain in the Second World War. He died in 1997. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 576 pages
• Publisher: Wordsworth Editions Ltd; First Thus edition (August 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 185326699X
• ISBN-13: 978-1853266997
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,151,426 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic of its Genre, December 7, 2001

By 

El Cutachero (MD USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Most Secret War (Wordsworth Military Library) (Paperback)

This book is also known as the Wizard War.
The author as a relatively young man was the technical intelligence director for the British Royal Air Force in WW II. As such he was involved in the development of active, passive, and counter measures to thwart the German Luftwaffe.
Developments included radars, anti ship missiles,jet engines, defense against buzz bombs, and the jamming of radio navigation systems used by the Germans.
After the war the author returned to Scotland to become a university professor. He returned to service during the Korean War period. His other book Reflections on Intelligence reveals him to be a man of erudition and covers and fills in some of the gaps in the story told herein which could not be revealed at the time this book was written.
Another one for the complete shelf of intelligence classics.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must Read!, August 10, 2002

By 

M. Kim Anderson (Saskatoon Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Most Secret War (Hardcover)

I originally purchased this book in 1979, a year after it was first published. I have had to buy it again because my original paperback simply fell apart. Thoughtful, thorough, witty and absolutely fascinating, R.V. Jones is one of the people I would most have liked to meet during my lifetime (he passed away in 1997). I can't recommend this book highly enough.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a great book, June 19, 2006

By 

lector avidus (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Most Secret War (Wordsworth Military Library) (Paperback)

Dr. Jones was an Oxford physicist from a military family who found himself in charge of English scientific intelligence during the Second World War. In this capacity, he led the effort to identify new German technologies and tactics, and then devise countermeasures.

Among his accomplishments were sending a raiding party across the Channel to dismantle and bring back a complete German radar station, anticipating and foiling the navigation systems the Germans devised for their bombers, anticipating and devising limited countermeasures to the V1s and V2s, exfiltrating Niels Bohr from Copenhagen and analyzing German effort to develop atomic bombs.

Dr. Jones certainly lived in interesting times, but unlike the much quoted Chinese curse, which continues with may one have powerful enemies, the powerful men in his life, most notably Churchill, had complete faith in him, and with good reason.

This is an incredible book, which I heartily recommend to anyone with an interest in military history or science.