Daring Missions of World War II Book Review

 

Daring Missions of World War II

By William B. Breuer

Hardcover in dustjacket, 238 pages

Published by Chartwell Books, 2017

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0785819509

ISBN-13: 978-0785819509

Dimensions: 6.5 x 1.2 x 9.5 inches

Daring Missions is a collection of unusual stories from World War II.  In it are an even hundred anecdotal tales, most only a couple of pages in length.  These are stories of spies and saboteurs, escapees and evaders, paratroopers and commandos, all up to their eyeballs in precarious adventures.

A few examples are the British Commandos who captured a Norwegian town and used its telephone exchange to send a telegraph to Hitler; the Kachin tribesman in Burma who received medals due to a typo; the Royal Navy Lieutenant who escaped German captivity disguised as a Bulgarian Officer named Ican Buggerov; and a group of American soldiers lost behind German lines who took over a bar for a night and captured seventy eight German soldiers as they came in for a drink.

While not the most rigorous or scholarly way to study history, this book is amusing and provides inspiration for further reading.  I have already pulled a few titles onto the “to be read” (or re-read) shelf as a result of this book.  The bite-sized presentation makes it ideal to read on the go or when you find an unexpected ten minutes between errands.  Sometimes a quick and entertaining read is just the thing and this book fits the bill.  An enjoyable read, recommended.