First published 2013
Juan Pujol was a Barcelona poultry farmer with no intelligence training and a burning desire to fight the Nazis. Armed only with his talent for elaborate lies, Pujol convinced German handlers he was their most reliable spy in Britain. The British rejected his offers to help four times before finally accepting him as a double agent. Operating as Agent Garbo, Pujol created an entire fictional network of sub-agents, fabricated telegrams, and forged documents to feed false intelligence to Germany. His greatest challenge came before D-Day, when he had to persuade German commanders that the Normandy landings were merely a diversion. The real invasion, he told them, would come at Calais. German forces believed Pujol completely, keeping entire battalions positioned at Calais for a crucial week after Allied troops had already landed at Normandy. Through his web of deception, this amateur spy helped save thousands of Allied lives and secure the success of the most important military operation of World War II.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, world-war-ii, non-fiction, military-history, espionage
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Barcelona, Britain, Calais, Normandy
Period: World War II
Unknown Binding · HMH , book club edition