Descripción

8vo., First Edition, with 31 plates on 24 and endpaper maps, neat contemporary signature on half-title; handsomely bound in navy full crushed morocco, sides with gilt framed border, back with raised bands, second and and fourth compartments ruled and lettered in gilt, all other compartments tooled in gilt, gilt top, hand-made endpapers, ribbon marker, old backstrip mounted on new leaf at front, a most attractive copy ideal as a gift or for presentation. Arguably the most famous strategic deception of WWII, Operation MINCEMEAT remained a closely guarded secret until the publication of Duff Cooper's novel Operation Heartbreak in 1950. A sharp-eyed journalist, Ian Colvin, was intrigued by the plot and linked it to a footnote in a book by General Westphal, formerly Kesselring's Chief of Staff. The result of his researches was The Unknown Courier (1953), a piece of investigative journalism so close to the truth that the authorities had little choice but to allow Montagu (MINCEMEAT's organiser), to relate the story (almost) in full. SCARCE IN THIS CONDITION. Enser, p.399; Law 0825.