The Secret History Of Pwe, 1939-45: The Political Warfare Executive 1939-1945

by David Garnett (Author)

• Used

  Hardcover
  2002

  $4.08

  Of all Britain's secret intelligence organisations, the least known is the Political Warfare Executive, developed to conduct psychological warfare against the Nazis. Now, for the first time, PWE's history has been declassified by the Cabinet Office and released fifty years after it had been completed and consigned to Whitehall's secret archives. David Garnett's extraordinary story tells of how such resourceful intellects as Richard Crossman, Sefton Delmer, Leonard Ingrams and Valentine Williams waged a covert campaign agains the enemy, using such unorthodox, ingenious methods as black propaganda and 'false flag' radio broadcasts. It also reveals the internal conflicts with the BBC, Special Operations Executive and the Secret Intelligence Service. Once completed, PWE's History was considered too explosive to release to the public, and even to circulation within Whitehall was strictly limited because of the document's sensitivity. At best a handbook of how to undermine an adversary and at worst a tale of breathtaking incompetence and political infighting, THE SECRET HISTORY OF PWE adds a missing dimension to recent disclosures of Britain's covert wartime operations.