Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: The Mavericks Who Plotted Hitler's Defeat

Giles Milton

Feb 2017 · Sold by Picador

About this ebook

Six gentlemen, one goal: the destruction of Hitler's war machine

In the spring of 1939, a top-secret organization was founded in London: its purpose was to plot the destruction of Hitler's war machine through spectacular acts of sabotage.

The guerrilla campaign that followed was every bit as extraordinary as the six men who directed it. One of them, Cecil Clarke, was a maverick engineer who had spent the 1930s inventing futuristic caravans. Now, his talents were put to more devious use: he built the dirty bomb used to assassinate Hitler's favorite, Reinhard Heydrich. Another, William Fairbairn, was a portly pensioner with an unusual passion: he was the world's leading expert in silent killing, hired to train the guerrillas being parachuted behind enemy lines. Led by dapper Scotsman Colin Gubbins, these men—along with three others—formed a secret inner circle that, aided by a group of formidable ladies, single-handedly changed the course Second World War: a cohort hand-picked by Winston Churchill, whom he called his Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare.

Giles Milton's Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is a gripping and vivid narrative of adventure and derring-do that is also, perhaps, the last great untold story of the Second World War.

Ratings and reviews

Fantastic book. The best I can do here is repeat what many others have stated so well. It is history that reads like a novel. Guerilla warfare seems natural to us in this era, so interesting to see how difficult that style of fighting was for Britain to accept. It's always great to know going into the book that the good guys win!

Unbelievable humans and intelligence! Well researched and craftily chronicled! The things I now know.... an accurate film must be made about these individuals and their missions.

Absolutely fantastic read! Page turner describing men who are such characters (and some who have such character) that you won't forget them quickly. Witty, entertaining AND educational. If WWII interests you at all, this is a required additional read. Loved it!

About the author

Giles Milton is the internationally bestselling author of a dozen works of narrative history, including Soldier, Sailor, Frogman, Spy, Airman, Gangster, Kill or Die: How the Allies Won on D-Day. His book, Churchill’s Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, is the basis for a major TV series. Milton’s other works—published in twenty-five languages—include Nathaniel’s Nutmeg, serialized by the BBC. He lives in London and Burgundy.