Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very Interesting, August 25, 1997
Whether you are a magician or not, you'll love this book. The subjects of the book not only contributed to camoflage techniques, but it also explains how they "moved" the port city of Alexandria to hide it from Axis bombers. Forget smart bombs and laser weapons, here are some real wonder 'weapons'
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good read, critics can attack book but not wartime accomplishments, April 1, 2007
This book is entertaining, at times awe-inspiring, and is a fascinating glimpse at a little-known aspect of WWII. I take issue with the reviewers who dismiss the entire book as fantasy. You see I actually looked at Mr. Stokes' (a negative reviewer) "debunking" website which he links to in his review. I admit Mr. Stokes does successfully call into question aspects of the real Mr. Maskelyne's character and the dubious provenance of the accounts of interpersonal relationships in _The War Magician_. However, when I eagerly clicked to the part of the website which promised to disprove Maskelyne's actual feats -- moving Alexandria harbor, hiding the Suez Canal, his role in preparing for the Battle of Alamein -- all I found was a rambling essay on WWII strategic deception which had nothing to do with the promised topic. In the absence of specific, skeptical accounts of the actual wartime accomplishments -- rather than character aspersions -- from a website which obviously wishes to take Maskelyne down a peg a or two, I can only conclude that the absence exists because it is impossible to attack the feats. I am much more inclined to believe the reviewer who went to London and researched Maskelyne's official wartime record.
Now, regarding the writing of the book, it is definitely corny at times with the ridiculous dialogue and the pat characterizations of the misfit members of Maskelyne's "Magic Gang." An author's preface would have done much to explain how "David Fisher" (obvious pen name?) put together this account -- however, perhaps there is no preface because David Fisher was interested only in telling a good yarn and his methods would not stand up to scholarly scrutiny.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
When is the movie coming out???, March 10, 2002
I had the privilege of portraying the Title Character in the History Channel production of this extraordinary person. This is the unique story of the British Stage Magician, Jasper Maskelyne who, when war broke out, offered his 'special skills' to the War Dept. He promptly enlisted in the British Army and attempted to convince the Generals that his skills as an illusionist could be put to use against the Germans. At first, he was laughed at, "What could we possibly use a magician for?" He was asked. "If I could fool an audience only twenty feet away, I could certainly fool the enemy a mile away or more!" He answered. He was put into Camouflage School, where he succeeded in hiding a Machine-gun Bunker so completely that the Inspecting General couldn't find it (even when he was standing right on top of it). Jasper had made his point! He was sent to North Africa, where he put together a hand-picked team of men. His first job was to hide Alexandria Harbour from the Luftwaffe's nightly bombing raids. With the Magician's ability of 'mis-direction', he and his team created a phony harbour some miles away, which looked so like the original, that the invading bombers dropped their cargo on that instead of the correct target. His next task was to hide the Suez Canal, which by using a series of Anti-Aircraft searchlights combined with a collection of mirrors, Jasper and his team caused a 'blinding effect', which confused the Luftwaffe Pilots so, that they couldn't see the target to bomb it. He then put his 'skills' to disguising British tanks to look like harmless trucks and vice-versa. Rommel placed his main forces to oppose, what he thought was a strong force of British tanks, which in reality, were only trucks disguised as tanks. Meanwhile the real British tank force (disguised as trucks) were about to attack many miles away, against a now, very small opposing force. It was due, in no small part, to the stage illusionist, Jasper Maskelyne, that the British 8th Army won the battle of El Alamein, which spelled the end of the Afrika Korps' and General Field Marshall Rommel's aspirations in North Africa.
This book is now being planned as an up-coming movie, starring Tom Cruise in the lead role!
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