Customer Reviews

They Dared Return: The True Story of Jewish Spies behind the Lines in Nazi Germany

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

They Dared Return is a pulse-pounding thriller about Americans, all previously German refugees, who were determined to take the fight to Hitler while their families were trapped in Nazi death camps. Here is a case where the truth is stranger than fiction. This small group of men "the five" one of whom was disguised as a German officer destroyed dozens of Nazi trains, gathered intelligence on German jet production, and remarkably even relayed the location and dimensions of Hitler's Berlin bunker. After enduring days of torture at the hands of the SS, two members of the five turned the tables on their captors and were responsible for the surrender of tens of thousands of German troops, thereby saving thousands of lives, including thousands of German civilians who would have been caught in the crossfire of battle. Remarkably, several of these incredible American heroes are still alive. Sadly, these men received hardly any recognition fore their exploits (they are humble and they never sought it.) The book is beautifully written in a cinematic fashion which makes the reader feel like they are behind the lines. Hollywood should turn this story into a movie. I'm an avid reader of adventure and World War stories and They Dared Return one of the best books I've read in years.

In an extremely well written story, O'Donnell weaves together a tale of espionage and intrigue as five Jewish refuges from Nazi Germany return to Hitler's home land to help defeat the Nazis in the final day of the war.
Supported by recently declassified documents from the National Achieves and personnel interviews with the participants, O'Donnell brings together an incredible untold story of heroism, danger and personnel sacrifice.
A great read about real life heroes.
Move over James Bond.

Yet another amazing book by O'Donnell. His brilliant prose puts me right there behind the enemy lines with "Hans" and "Fred" as part of Operation Greenup. These true stories of real life heroes are cinema-worthy, especially enjoyable is the part where Fred dresses up as a German Officer. These men risked everything to parachute back into enemy territory to gain invaluable intel on the Nazi war machine. Hans and Fred can teach all of us a lot about life. Reading this book made me reflect on my life and the paths it choose. Would I be willing to risk everything for what I believe? Hans and Fred did. After reading this book, so would I.

What do you get when you take two recent Jewish émigrés to Brooklyn: the first, a lanky, blond haired Dutchman, the second, a stocky, dark haired German and throw them out of a perfectly airworthy B-24 over the frozen confines of German occupied Austrian Alpine territory? Oh, and mix in a couple of Wehrmacht deserters: the first, a German swindler of ill repute, the second, an Austrian Heer officer with an anti-Nazi predisposition? And for good measure, add a couple of Gestapo sadists, a few opportunistic Nazi Party officials, and a modest helping of courageous anti-Nazi Austrian townsfolk? No, you do not have the making of another Quentin Tarantino action-drama. You have, arguably, the most successful OSS mission of the Second World War--Operation Greenup. That is the tale that Mr. O'Donnell tells in "They Dared Return." Page for page, a most satisfying read!

This author has really done some incredible work to find facts and details in history concerning events rarely told. There is so much more to history that is covertly left our of educational teaching. Understanding these factual stories equip us to see the broader picture in current events of our time.

In the name of what's right, some people will go into certain death. "They Dared Return: The True Story of Jewish Spies Behind the Lines in Nazi Germany" tells the story of a group of Jews who, having escaped the clutches of Hitler's final solution, went back to fight against the Nazi's genocide. These individuals brought a quicker end to the war through their heroism, and Patrick K. O'Donnell tells their story. "They Dared Return" is utterly fascinating and highly recommended.

I have been researching intellignence activities in Europe during World War II. This book was informative, as well as interesting.

First, if you don't like to read about people being tortured, don't read this book or the Brenner Assignment. Second, this author doesn't write very well. Hey Patrick, have you ever heard about proofreading your own work? Huh? Go to Chapter 26, top of page 139. In the middle of discussing the dinner at Hofer's house we see this paragraph about an overturned auto! Why is this here? There are other places in this book were the storyline doesn't flow. Overall, this book was very light on substance. I agree with the other reviewer that gave this book 1 star; the author was too damn busy cutting and pasting to rush out another book.

a must read, seriously, if you have eyes, a brain, and a heart, jewish or not, veteran or not, current member of the armed forces or not. this is a must read for everyone

I have never written a review on Amazon.com before, but feel compelled to do so after reading this book. I have long been a history buff and was interested in learning about OSS efforts during World War II. I ordered the Brenner Assignment and They Dared Return, both by Patrick K. O'Donnell. I initially read the Brenner Assignment and felt that it was a solid read, but lacked the narrative flow and character development of other non-fiction WWII books, such as those by Stephen Ambrose.

I'm giving "They Dared Return" a 1-star rating because the author cut and pasted whole sections from the Brenner Assignment....word for word...thoughout this book. It struck me as a lazy effort to slap together a new book using exact passages, even whole pages from a recent work. Moreover, O'Donnell does little to give the reader enough background information on the individuals who conducted OSS missions and it was difficult to keep track who was who as the book progressed. I got the sense that O'Donnell wanted a quick hit to follow up the Brenner Assignment and patched this together as quickly as possible, paraphrasing after action reports while lacking the deep background research that brings these stories to life for the reader. A very disappointing effort.