Agent Garbo

The Brilliant, Eccentric Secret Agent Who Tricked Hitler and Saved D-Day

Stephan Talty

• Editore: Mariner Books
• Anno: 2012
• ISBN:
  9780547614823
• Argomento: History
• Categoria: World War II

From the author of The Good Assassin and Saving Bravo, the real-life spy story of a Spanish farmer-turned-spy who helped defeat the Nazis.

Before he remade himself as the master spy known as Garbo, Juan Pujol was nothing more than a Barcelona poultry farmer. But as Garbo, he turned in a masterpiece of deception that changed the course of World War II. Posing as the Nazis' only reliable spy inside England, he created an imaginary million-man army, invented armadas out of thin air, and brought a vast network of fictional subagents to life. The scheme culminated on June 6, 1944, when Garbo convinced the Germans that the Allied forces approaching Normandy were just a feint—the real invasion would come at Calais. Because of his brilliant trickery, the Allies were able to land with much less opposition and eventually push on to Berlin.

As incredible as it sounds, everything in Agent Garbo is true, based on years of archival research and interviews with Pujol's family. This pulse-pounding thriller set in the shadow world of espionage and deception reveals the shocking reality of spycraft that occurs just below the surface of history.

"The book presses ever forward down a path of historical marvels and astonishing facts. The effect is like a master class that's accessible to anyone, and Agent Garbo often reads as though it were written in a single, perfect draft." — The Atlantic

"Stephan Talty's unsurpassed research brings forth one of the war's greatest agents in a must-read book for those who think they know all the great World War II stories." —Gregory Freeman, author of The Forgotten 500

Index

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

A

Abwehr: agents defect to Allies, 226

attempts to infiltrate MI6, 59

Canaris as head of, 99, 100, 101–2

confidence in Pujol, ix–x, 45–46, 51, 58–59, 84, 94–95, 103–4, 112–13, 118–19, 148–49, 161, 183, 184–85, 189, 206, 218, 230

Franco and, 31

German companies work with, 98

high attrition rate, 103

interest in chemical warfare, 88

Jebsen as agent for, 198

Jodl and, 103, 107

known as “Santa Clauses,” 99

MI5 analyzes thinking of, 86–87, 88, 118–19

and Operation Fortitude, 159, 176, 182–83, 190–91, 212–13

operations in England, ix, 44, 59, 102–3, 107

operations in France, 102–3

operations in Lisbon, 36

operations in Madrid, 30–31, 104–5, 171–72, 184, 187–88, 191–92, 199, 207, 223–24, 228, 239

Pérez as agent for, 182

permits Pujol to use wireless radio, 96–97

Popov recruited by, 198

and preparations for Normandy invasion, 159, 189–90

Pujol as intelligence analyst for, 149–50, 187–88, 192, 216

Pujol begins spying for, 43–46

Pujol feeds fake intelligence to, 47–50, 58–60, 67, 83–84, 92–95, 107, 128, 143, 144, 149–50, 158–59, 170, 171–72, 177, 187–88, 191–93, 194, 201, 215–16, 224–25

recruitment in, 100–101

researches gas masks, 88

rivalry with SD, 161

rushes agents to England, 103

scope and methods of, 98–99

shortcomings in deception operations, 105

Strangeways feeds fake intelligence to, 164

and supposed Nazi sympathizers in England, 189

and V-1 attacks, 223–24

Agent J (fake agent), 86, 187, 188–89, 192

Agent No. 1 (fake agent), 127–28, 129

Agent No. 2 (fake agent). See Gerbers, William

Agent No. 3 (fake agent), 86, 92–93, 110, 113, 127, 209, 211, 223, 226

Agent No. 4 (fake agent), 1...

Indice dei contenuti

• Title Page
• Contents
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Cast of Characters
• Introduction
• The Making of a Spy
• Tom Mix in Barcelona
• The Training Ground
• Araceli
• The White City
• The Game
• The Snakepit
• Garbo’s Rise
• A Fresh Riot of Ideas
• The System
• The Debut
• The Blacks and the Santa Clauses
• The Rehearsal
• Photos
• The Far Shore
• The Dry Run
• An Intimate Deception
• Haywire
• The Interloper
• The Ghost Army
• The Backdrop
• The Buildup
• The Prisoner
• The Hours
• The Weapon
• Breakoff
• The End
• The Return
• Appendix A: Organizations
• Appendix B: The Garbo Network (Entirely Fictitious)
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Acknowledgments
• Index
• Sample Chapter from SAVING BRAVO
• Buy the Book
• About the Author
• Connect with HMH