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Double Cross: Deception Techniques in War

Double Cross: Deception Techniques in War

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Double Cross: Deception Techniques in War

Author(s)

Paul Janeczko

Publisher

Candlewick Press

Genre(s)

Age Range

12+

Release Date

May 23, 2017

ISBN

978-0763660420

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The biblical account of Gideon. The ancient story of the Trojan horse. Deceptive techniques have been used in war through the ages. But while the principles have changed very little, the technology behind fooling the enemy has evolved dramatically. Paul B. Janeczko’s fascinating chronology focuses on the American Civil War, World Wars I and II, and the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Gulf Wars to reveal evolving attitudes toward the use and effectiveness of deceptive operations. Find out the secret plan behind the invasion of Normandy and the details of General Schwarzkopf’s "Hail Mary play" during the Gulf War, among many other strategies and maneuvers designed to pull the wool over enemies' eyes. Back matter includes source notes, a bibliography, and an index.

Editor reviews

2 reviews

Great Companion to Dark Times

June 13, 2017

Overall rating

4.5

Writing Style

N/A

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

N/A

Learning Value

N/A

From Biblical descriptions of battles (Gideon driving out the Midianites) to the siege of Troy and a variety of early European battles, Janeczko points out how these techniques and strategies were employed, and to what effect. In between chapters, there are asides of information such as ciphers and codes (readers can get more on this from this author's Top Secret: A Handbook of Codes, Ciphers and Secret Writing, Candlewick 2006), naming operations, telegraphs, Bletchley Park and more). A wide variety of other operations, from WWII to Korea to Kuwait are painstakingly described, the generals involved introduces, and the tactics enumerated.

Good Points

Not only does Mr. Janeczko do a great poetry collection, but he puts together interesting and intriguing volumes on espionage that rather amaze me. Starting with an overview of what deception strategies AND techniques are used by the US military, Double Cross goes on to thoroughly describe how these are used in a variety of historical settings.

There are a fair amount of photographs and maps to accompany the various stories. Best of all, there is a complete bibliography and very careful source notes. This book would be a great example to show students how sources should be cited, and demonstrate the careful attention to detail that was used in compiling this book.

Not only is this carefully researched, but like The Dark Game: True Spy Stories from Invisible Ink to CIA Moles (Candlwick, 2012), this is told in a fast paced, interesting narrative style. As much as I would prefer that this author go back to compiling poetry collections, he turns out high quality narrative nonfiction that adventure seeking readers will find hard to put down.