Secrets in a Dead Fish: The Spying Game in the First World War

Melanie King

ISBN 10: 1851242600 / ISBN 13: 9781851242603

Editore: Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, 2014

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Drawing on the words of many of the spies themselves, 'Secrets in a Dead Fish' is a fascinating compendium of clever and original ruses that casts new light into the murky world of espionage during the First World War. Num Pages: 128 pages, 20 black & white illustrations. BIC Classification: 3JJF; HBLW; HBWN; JWKF. Category: (P) Professional & Vocational. Dimension: 180 x 124 x 18. Weight in Grams: 210. . 2014. Hardcover. . . . .

Codice articolo V9781851242603

Dati bibliografici

• Titolo: Secrets in a Dead Fish: The Spying Game in the First World War
• Editore: Bodleian Library, University of Oxford
• Data di pubblicazione: 2014
• Lingua: Inglese
• ISBN 10: 1851242600
• ISBN 13: 9781851242603
• Rilegatura: Rilegato
• Condizione: New

Descrizione articolo

Riassunto

How did German intelligence agents use a dead fish to convey critical information to their operatives? What did an advertisement for a dog in the Times have to do with the movement of British troops into Egypt? And why did British officers suddenly become suspicious of the trousers hanging on a Belgian woman’s washing line?

Throughout World War I, spymasters and their networks of secret agents developed many clever—and sometimes comical—methods of covert communication. Stacks of bread in a bakery window, puffs of smoke from a chimney, and even woolen pullovers were all used to pass on secret messages that were decipherable only to the well-trained eye. Drawing on the memoirs of eight spies, Melanie King divulges these and other tricks of the trade while sharing details from their astonishing stories. Among her informants are British intelligence officers working undercover in Germany and France, including a former Metropolitan police officer who once hunted Jack the Ripper; a German secret service officer codenamed “Agricola;” an American newspaperman; and an Austrian agent who disguised himself during his career as everything from a Jewish peddler to a Russian officer.

A fascinating compendium of clever and long-forgotten ruses—interspersed with the stories of the spies themselves—Secrets in a Dead Fish sheds new light on the shadowy world of Great War espionage.

Informazioni sull?autore

Melanie King is the author of several books, including Can Onions Cure Ear-Ache?, also published by the Bodleian Library.