Stories of behind-the-lines and secret exploits in WW2

THE SABOTAGE DIARIES:<br>Allied special forces' covert operations in Nazi-occupied Greece<br><b>Katherine Barnes</b><br><i>HarperCollins</i>
THE SABOTAGE DIARIES: Allied special forces' covert operations in Nazi-occupied Greece. By Katherine Barnes. HarperCollins

These two books cover an array of secret operations during World War 2.

Sabotage Diaries is a personal, gritty and down-to-earth account of survival and sabotage behind enemy lines, while

the other is a historian's succinct overview of wide-ranging covert operations, many of which affected the war's outcome.

The Sabotage Diaries recounts the adventure-like, true story of New Zealander Tom Barnes, parachuting behind Nazi lines into Greece, then three understated sabotage operations, crisscrossing vast mountains, underpinned by his concise diaries.

While digressing at times, author Katherine Barnes, Barnes' daughter-in-law, makes up for it by revealing the human side of the camaraderie between Barnes, resistance fighters and villagers, all of whose survival relied on not only skill, but the silence of strangers.

WORLD WAR TWO IN SECRET:<br>The Hidden Conflict 1939 to 1945.<br><b>Gavin Mortimer</b><br><i>Exisle Publishing</i>
WORLD WAR TWO IN SECRET: The Hidden Conflict 1939 to 1945. By Gavin Mortimer. Exisle Publishing

There is predictability in World War Two in Secret's content: radar's development, the Enigma code breakers, the Manhattan project and bouncing dam bombs.

However, it delivers on its ''clever, cunning and crafty'' sales pitch, with many unsung gems of covert operations - from the almost farcical to those of superhuman endurance - including arrays of maps, profiles and photos.

• Simon Hartley is ODT business reporter.

 

 

 

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