Forgotten Voices of the Secret War: An Inside History of Special Operations in the Second World War

this is a great book,i thoroughly enjoyed it,well worth a read

I knew very little about the work of SOE before I read this book.This book is a fascinating read using the personal accounts of SOE personnel and the various clandestine operations they took part in during WW2.They took part in operations in Norway, France, Greece, The Balkans, North Africa and the Far East etc.A must read book if you want to know more about the work of this secretive organisation during WW2.A real eye-opener, they knew full well that they would not be treated as ordinary POWs if caught, execution being a very real threat!

Very good. Up to the standard of other Forgotten Voices books

A very interesting book and easy to read, although in segments, but it all adds up as its sometimes hilarious, sometimes harrowing but gives a real look at the SOE by the people who were the SOE. A good overall read

Yes certainly another read that gives you the inside stories that we have not been aware of before.I have not finished reading it yet and although we old folk were aware of the,special operations, the personal storiesthat have come out so far are amazing, it's a job to put it down.

The many 'Forgotten Voices' books are based upon recorded interviews held within the Imperial War Museum.I had not purchased or seen any other of its titles although their existence was known and was quite unsure what to expect. In this instance, Forgotten Voices of the Secret War is a mini-encyclopaedia listing in no immediately obvious order a number of names of individuals operating within the various country or regional Sections of SOE. Individually, an entry might comprise a few brief lines or a full page summarising that person's wartime activities within or on behalf of SOE.For various reasons, a substantial proportion of SOE's records were destroyed immediately post-War and details of its Agents' activities were effectively lost, other than those who latter chose to write their biographies - very few did. Not only are there few remaining available records, there was never a reliable list of its personnel and this book attempts to fill some of those gaps. However, as most agents were otherwise unrecorded elsewhere, a listing as that contained here may be valuable for researchers. As many readers might expect a series of stories such as those of agents such as Peter Churchill, Odette Sansom or Violette Szabo, which are among the few that are well documented, it fails rather miserably and completely.It isn't what I had expected and it is to be returned. There is too little individual data to hold interest and too many names that are too obscure to remember.

A very interesting record of some extremely brave and resourceful men and women. A good job, as it turned out, that such men and women were ready and willing to answer the call.

Bought this as my Great Aunt is featured in it. Great read

I have read many accounts of SOE activity. This adds another dimension and covers sequential accounts of how life was for those involved in many theatres of the war. Fascinating.

I haven't finished this book yet but so far it has been a very candid look at what some of the members of SOE experienced. It is sometimes horrifying, sometimes sad, always informative, sometimes funny, and some of the accounts are wonderfully self-deprecating. Problems and mistakes are revealed. The people who were interviewed for this book, the interviewers, and the Imperial War Museum have given us a magnificent gift by assembling this book.

Hundreds of motives fostering personal pride and a sense of belonging to an elite mercenary troop that had no equal.

Der Gedanke der "Oral History" ist ja grundsätzlich interessant, weil es den Hauch des Authentischen verbreitet.In dieem Fall handelt es sich um ein Sammelsurium von nur kurzen Erzähl-Schnipseln ohne jegliche Erklärung von Hintergründen der SOE-Einsätze und ohne jegliche Bewertung des Erreichten.Offensichtlich dient das Buch nur der völlig unkritischen Heroisierung der Aktionen der SOE-Einheiten.Wenn man zwischen den Zeilen liest, drängt sich der Verdacht auf, dass die ganzen Aktionen in den von Deutschen besetzten Ländern erstens sehr amateurhaft waren, was man noch achselzuckend zur Kenntnis nehmen könnte; zweitens aber von einem ungeheuren Zynismus Churchills getrieben waren, der explizit darauf hoffte, dass die Aktionen seiner Agenten möglichst blutige Repressalien deutscherseits gegen die einheimische Bevölkerung auslösen würden; was dann wiederum der deutschen Besatzungsmacht schaden würde.Ein Musterbeispiel dafür ist das Attentat auf Heydrich, ausgeführt von aus England eingeflogenen Tschechen. Kein einziges englisches Leben wurde hier riskiert, aber das von Churchill billigend in Kauf genommene Ergebnis war das Massaker von Lidice.Aber Fragen nach der Moral der ganzen SOE-Aktionen sind in diesem Buch tabu.Deshalb auch nur 2 Punkte.

Testimony taken apart and reassembled doesn't really work.