Customer Reviews
Deception! - By: archieleach, 04 Jan 2009 
The two rather breathy reviews above are a little excessive. Yes, the writing is good albeit with Rankin throwingin some words that are straight out of the darkest corners of the most obscure dictionaries. However, the content is lacking; short on Maskelyne & even Operation Mincemeat gets only a passing discussion. There are also lengthy passages about the personal politics behind the protagonists, where I would have preferred a morein depth treatment of what they did. Finally, the epilogue where Rankin speculates about 'our generation' & implied deception leading us into Iraq & Afghanistan: out of context & speculative. Nice cover though - it will look good on the bookshelf.
A book too far - By: Mr. John S. WILDEN, 29 Dec 2008 
Firstly a very well written book. The author has a genuine skill for telling a story, which to be honest is just as well.
Whilst the writing was entertaining & informative the whole setup of the book was very disappointing. It seemed to lurch from one subject to the other rather than with a smooth flow between individual subjects.
One great dissapointment was an almost sideways & singular reference to Jasper Maskelyne (who could've had a chapter all to himself) yet the author devoted more word space to one of his relatives' rather tertiary involvementin the evacuation of the BEF.
Allin all a good attempt but I wont be picking this up & re-reading it againin a hurry.
Comments by Michael Calum Jacques, author of '1st Century Radical'. - By: Michael Calum Jacques, 03 Dec 2008 
Firstly, may I begin on stating that I endorse every statement made by the previous reviewer, Tristan Edwards. His review represents this work accurately & perceptively. This reviewer is surprised that anybody could fail to find that previous review helpful.
This reviewer would like to present some biographical data about the author of 'Wizards'. Nicholas Rankin is a well-known namein broadcasting and, now,in historical literature too,especially since his book Dead Man's Chest (which traced the steps of Robert Louis Stevenson's between Scotland & Samoa)and Telegram from Guernica, an extremely well received treatise on the life of the war-correspondent & propagandist, George Lowther Steer 1909 - 1944). Rankin, then is seasonedin the dual disciplines of communication & of historical research. 'Wizards' combines these disciplines with thoroughness & esprit.
The author sets the historical context very carefully, whilst maintaining the readers concentration & interest (as observed by the previous reviewer) with deft phrases & vivid, sometimes terse, descriptive phraseology & terminology.
By the time the Second World War 'occurred', the British military & secret services had become masters of the art of deception. This book chronicles their achievements, despite the difficultiesin obtaining 'the full story'in certain instances; British geniuses cracked what had appeared to be apparently impenetrable German secret codes & were able to glean intelligence from their messages. Apprehended German spies were used to send back false information to officers.
And there is more ... much more;in short, Nicholas Rankin entertainingly presents the reader with well-researched heroic episodes about the hurriedly assembled band of 'creative mavericks' who purloined a victoryin what that phrase-smith Churchill referred to as 'the war of the Unknown Warriors'. As alluded to earlier, some of the material was apparently not that easy to obtain; "Official secrecy has weighed heavily on the subject", Rankin says. As well as making the finished project an even greater achievement, that fact renders this work even more commendable to the general reader & valuable to the interested historian.
Michael Calum Jacques (author of 1st Century Radical: the shadowy origins of the man who became known as Jesus Christ)
Wizardry! - By: Tristan Edwards, 14 Oct 2008 I must start by saying that 'Churchill's Wizards' is first & foremost a great read. Nicholas Rankin has managed to turn what at first sight may seem like a forbiddingly esoteric subject into a thoroughly accessible & engaging narrative full of intrigue & incident. This isin no small part down to some very accomplished writing, which throughout the book is always adding splashes of colour to the blacks & whites of historical fact. The rather wonderful picture of Gavrilo Princip at the start of the book, `a tubercular & weedy-looking youth,' consoling himself with a sandwichin Moritz Schiller's cafe after a failed attempt on the life of the Archduke & just before he was to be given a second chance by way of the infamous `wrong turn', is a casein point I think.
`Wizards' story of the secret wars of deception that were fought beneath the surface of the two World Wars is as surprising as it is fascinating. The tales of ingenuity, audacity & at times damn right eccentricity that characterised the British deceptions & ruses are each interestingin their own right & are invariably drawn with much humour & heart. But it is how these portraits fit into the bigger picture that will have the reader gripped; as `Wizards' reworks the annals of war from the perspective of deception. Giving us fresh takes on familiar campaigns & events like `Gallipoli' & `D-day' that have been all but exhausted by books & films.
I have to say that Mr Rankin does this with all the subtlety & skill of one of his 'camofluers': seamlessly integrating vast tracts of unfamiliar territory into the well-trodden historical landscapes of the first & second World Wars. But rather than hollowed-out trees & dummy tanks what one can expect to find when they examine this book is something of real substance. That is, a superbly crafted piece of scholarship that is hugely informative & very, very readable.
