Ernest Hemingway stalks U-Boats. A Belgian woman halts the Panzers. Adolf Hitler plays Santa Claus. If you think these are tall tales, guess again. More than 140 of the most bizarre, curious, and downright strange incidents from World War II are documented here based on personal interviews, archives and declassified documents.

"Drawn from personal interviews, private correspondence, trial records, and declassified documents from official archives, this volume provides detailed, startling revelations about the secret wars fought behind the battlefields - and the headlines - of World War II."--BOOK JACKET.

A rare treat for World War II history buffs and fans of the strange, absurd, and unexplained Acclaimed military historian William Breuer takes readers on a trip through the looking glass to acquaint them with the weirder side of World War II. Featuring a cast of characters including double- and triple-agents, femme fatales, fearless leaders, and men at arms, The Spy who Spent the War In Bed is a collection of seventy concise, vividly rendered tales of war, ranging from laugh-out-loud funny, to inspiring, to just-plain-bizarre. For instance, there's the one about how reputed Irish Republican Army members in New York conned Nazi intelligence out of a small fortune. There's also a thrilling account of how four American newsmen bagged an entire German platoon. And there's the haunting tale of the "Mystery Plane," an experimental aircraft that took off on a short test flight over England one sunny afternoon in 1938 and simply vanished into a cloudless summer sky. This book draws on personal interviews, official archives, and declassified documents, as well as the vast literature on World War II.

"As combat veterans and high commanders know, logic is often a stranger in wartime." --William B. Breuer, in The annals of World War II are mined with captivating cases of strange coincidences, ominous premonitions, and baffling mysteries. Now, William Breuer's painstaking research has yielded over 100 fascinating historical accounts, including: The mysterious fire on the Normandie . . . Who really was behind the eerily efficient destruction of the famed ocean liner? The ominous "Deadly Double" advertisement in The New Yorker . . . Was it a coded leak to Japanese and German spies announcing the upcoming bombing of Pearl Harbor? The botched Nazi kidnapping of the Duke of Windsor . . . How did a serendipitous series of events save the duke from Hitler's grasp (and the Allied forces from a crippling strategic setback)? The curious sinking of the Tang . . . How did this deadliest of U.S. submarines come to meet such an unexpected and mysterious end? "Anyone interested in twists of fate should find this book fascinating." --Library Journal "While away a few hours or spend a few minutes at a time enjoying this collection of inexplicable, mysterious, and strange tales." --Nashville Banner

Critical acclaim for William B. Breuer "A first-class historian." --The Wall Street Journal Vendetta! "A wealth of insights."--Los Angeles Times Book Review Unexplained Mysteries of World War II "Anyone interested in twists of fate should find this book fascinating." --Library Journal Feuding Allies "A valuable resource . . . highly recommended."--Booklist * A bloc of hard-core American Nazis carries out elaborate plans to sabotage war efforts and keep the United States neutral. * A wily Japanese "tailor" single-handedly steals the secrets to the United States Gray Code. * A French boy and his "blind" music teacher penetrate, in broad daylight, the German forbidden zone at Port-en-Bessein. Just beneath the surface of the legendary events of World War II lurks a vast, shadowy, high-stakes realm of espionage and intelligence, where the most successful operations are the ones we've never heard about . . . until now. With his trademark blend of dynamic storytelling and meticulous detail, William Breuer reveals seventy clandestine operations that affected the course of the war. Vivid and fast-paced, this far-reaching treasury of vanishing spies, mysterious kidnappings, and bizarre subplots is a unique and riveting addition to the World War II literature.

Behind the great battles and courageous acts of World War II are the schemes and ruses of cloak-and-dagger agencies, the captivating tales of which are told in Deceptions of World War II. In this book of Wold War II deception, noted military historian and author William Breuer presents more than 80 little-known tales of illusions, masquerades, and fakery—often decisive factors, providing an advantage that likely amounted to the difference between victory and defeat. Painstakingly researched and collected from personal interviews, official archives, and declassified documents, these fresh, fast-paced accounts take you directly into the minds of the men and women who misled their enemy, uncovered military secrets, and furthered their cause by any means possible: stealing Hitler’s secret weapon, “smuggling” ships to England, financing an FBI coup, impersonating a submarine fleet, unmasking German spies, and even sending Nazis into the White House. From Nazi Germany on the march to the Allies’ victory, you’ll marvel at the actions of: Ladislas Farago, who was formally classified as insane and yet on active duty in the US Navy, operating as a secret agent The nine Germans who “captured” Belgrade by means of a bold bluff London’s devious “Shadow Warrior,” who invented rumors to throw Germany off its guard and drive a wedge between the Nazi leaders and the military The Oslo Gang, whose mind-boggling exploits helped to convict Norwegian traitors and German war criminals soon after the liberation Greta Garbo, the world-famous Swedish actress who worked undercover for the British and reported on Nazi sympathizers Writing in an engaging, dramatic style, Breuer is once again at the top of his form, uncovering nuggets of espionage that will enthrall World War II buffs, hungry for new stories of the war, as well as anyone interested in compelling tales of history.

(Cleveland, TN) is a military historian and author of over twenty books, most of them related to World War II. Eleven of his previous books have been Main Selections of the Military Book Club.