The Imitation Game Inspiration List: Books about the Thwarting of Nazis

[Hilary]

I saw the post today about The Imitation Game at the Toronto Film Festival. I am also a big fan of books about the Thwarting of Nazis. My first suggested book for those who are also a fan, Blackett's War: The Men Who Defeated the Nazi U-Boats and Brought Science to the Art of Warfare. Full disclosure my sub-topic interest in the Thwarting of Nazis genre is U-Boats and the Battle of the Atlantic so my suggestions will tend to revolve around that topic. Any other suggestions from Fug Nation?

[Maureen]

I love thwarting Nazis and I'm quite fond of spies. I really liked Operation Mincemeat: How a Dead Man and a Bizarre Plan Fooled the Nazis and Assured an Allied Victory - I think the book title is pretty revealing. There was a movie made about this in the 50's called The Man Who Never Was, but they had to go include a hokey romance, so the movie is not recommended by me. There's also Agent Garbo: The Brilliant, Eccentric Secret Agent Who Tricked Hitler and Saved D-Day. Great fun read. Several books about Garbo, this is the one I read.

I haven't read this yet, but got the recommendation in one of my email feeds: Double Agent: The First Hero of World War II and How the FBI Outwitted and Destroyed a Nazi Spy Ring and it sounds like it's meant for me.

[Abigail]

Not quite thwarting of Nazis, but I read Monuments Men and really enjoyed it.

[Hilary]

All great suggestions Maureen for my "to read" list.

Abigail, did you see the movie? I've seen the movie and wasn't very impressed even though I love the topic and everyone in it. I thought a better film version was the documentary The Rape of Europa. Highly recommend that.

[Meredith]

Ben Macintyre is great (the guy who wrote Operation Mincemeat). I just read another book by him called Double Cross: The True Story of the D-Day Spies. I really loved Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World's Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin. It's written for kids, but it seriously has everything, including an awesome section with Norwegian commandos.

[Laura]

Second the recommendation for Monuments Men and adding the similar The Rape of Europa: The Fate of Europe's Treasures in the Third Reich and the Second World War. There are some unbelievable and inspiring stories in both of them about the lengths people went to to protect Europe's art.

And of course, Number the Stars is a classic. Snow Treasure is another good, but mostly forgotten, children's book about kids in Norway smuggling gold past the Nazis.

[Abigail]

Hilary, just read the book. And I'm adding your titles to my list.

[Lori]

Maureen wrote: "I love thwarting Nazis and I'm quite fond of spies. I really liked Operation Mincemeat: How a Dead Man and a Bizarre Plan Fooled the Nazis and Assured an Allied Victory - I think the..."

I LOVED Operation Mincemeat as well!! Such an awesome book- and didn't read only as historical fact- there was a wondrous and amazing story in it as well

[Hillary]

Operation Mincemeat looks great...and very much like a book I'd give to one of the fathers for Christmas. Noted.

In fiction, Lucinda Riley's The Lavender Garden had French Resistance and Terrible Nazis and Fancy Parties and Ill-Advised Love Affairs. Good stuff :-)

[Leah]

I read this a million years ago, but if you're looking for a novel, The Forger by Paul Watkins: a young American in Paris (late 1930s/1940s) helps forge artworks that are on the Nazis list of artworks to claim for themselves.

[Hillary]

Leah wrote: "I read this a million years ago, but if you're looking for a novel, The Forger by Paul Watkins: a young American in Paris (late 1930s/1940s) helps forge artworks that are on the Nazis list of artwo..."

That sounds cool!

[[deleted user]]

Paris by Edward Rutherfurd. It's an epic novel, but it has awesome Nazi thwarting. It involves sabotaging the Eiffel Tower so Hitler can't go up it and the hiding of art. It may be some "quiet" revolutions within the whole but it still made me throw my fist in the air when I was reading it.