Kirjahaku

This vintage book contains a fascinating and detailed biography of the heroic chief of German military intelligence who opposed Hitler at the cost of his own life; Wilhelm Franz Canaris. Wilhelm Franz Canaris (1887 - 1945) was chief of the Abwehr, the German military intelligence service, between 1935 and 1944. He was a key figure in the secret opposition to Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime. Amongst his actions to oppose Hitler, was his attempt to sabotage Hitler's plan to absorb Czechoslovakia, his advising Franco not to help the Germans pass through Spain, and his pivotal role in organising a spy network in Spain. Canaris was executed in a concentration camp for high treason. Contents include: "At the Height of His Ambition", "Operation Kama", "The Spanish Adventure", "The Russian Knot", "Operation Otto", "The Conspiracies Begin", "A Glimpse of Canaris", "Between Peace and War", "The Great Mobilisation", "The Admiral Helps a Lady", "The Double Dutchman", "Norway", etcetera. Many antiquarian texts such as this, are increasingly hard to come by and expensive, and it is with this in mind that we are republishing this book now in an affordable, modern, high quality edition. It comes complete with a specially commissioned new biography of the author.

On 1 June 1943 Flight 777, a Douglas DC-3, en route from Lisbon to Britain, was shot down over the Bay of Biscay by German aircraft. Among the dead was the actor Leslie Howard, who had returned from Hollywood to England to help the British war effort. Also on board was Howards tax adviser, Alfred Chenhalls, who smoked cigars and looked remarkably like Winston Churchill. Did the Germans believe that Churchill was on board Flight 777? Other aircraft flying that route went unmolested by the Luftwaffe in spite of the German air presence over the Bay of Biscay. These flights were operated by Dutch crews flying aircraft of KLM which were on charter to BOAC and it was an experience Dutch crew that was lost that day. Ian Colvin carried out an exhaustive investigation into the incident, including interviewing former Luftwaffe personnel and this book, first published in 1957, is the result of his endeavours.

On 30 April 1943, the drowned corpse of Major William Martin washed up on the coast of Spain. In what appeared to be a stroke of grave misfortune for the British, he was found to be carrying top-secret plans for the invasion of Italy. Truth, however, is often stranger than fiction: the plans, as well as the identity of the Major himself, were fake - part of a secret British intelligence ruse called 'Operation Mincemeat', which misled Hitler, causing him to divert his forces away from the Allied target of Sicily.Journalist Ian Colvin became fascinated by tales of this audacious scheme and decided to investigate further. His search led him to Madrid, Gibraltar, Seville and fi nally to a grave at Huelva. The resulting book, originally published in 1953, is a breathtaking account of Colvin's journey, involving German ex-intelligence officers, Spanish generals, flamenco dancers and even a frogman pathologist specialising in drowned bodies.With its thrilling insights into what turned out to be one of the most successful wartime deceptions ever attempted, The Unknown Courier inspired Ben Macintyre's bestselling Operation Mincemeat. Colvin's lively account looks beyond the military machinations and considers the mysterious identity of the unknown courier - who was this man who, after his own death, changed the course of the Second World War?