Author:Wes Davis
In the bleakest years of the Second World War when it appeared that nothing could slow the advance of the German army, Hitler set his sights on the Mediterranean island of Crete, the ideal staging ground for domination of the Middle East. But German command had not counted on the strength of the Cretan resistance or the eccentric band of British intelligence officers who would stand in their way, conducting audacious sabotage operations in the very shadow of the Nazi occupation force.
The Ariadne Objective tells the remarkable story of the secret war on Crete from the perspective of these amateur soldiers who found themselves serving because, as one of them put it, they had made 'the obsolete choice of Greek at school'. John Pendlebury, a swashbuckling archaeologist with a glass eye and a swordstick; Xan Fielding, a writer who would later produce the English translations of books like Bridge on the River Kwai and Planet of the Apes; Sandy Rendel, a future Times reporter, who prided himself on a disguise that left him looking more ragged and fierce than the Cretans he fought alongside; and Patrick Leigh Fermor, the future travel-writing luminary who, as a teenager in the early 1930s, walked across Europe, a continent already beginning to feel the effects of Hitler's rise to power.
Having infiltrated occupied Crete, these British gentleman spies teamed with Cretan partisans to carry out a cunning plan to disrupt Nazi manoeuvres, culminating in a daring, high-risk plot to abduct the island’s German commander. In this thrilling and little known episode of Second World War history, Wes Davis paints a brilliant portrait of some extraordinary characters and tells a story of triumph against all the odds.
An exciting, fast-moving and crisply written adventure story… Highly recommended
—— The Literary ReviewWes Davis’s fast-paced tale of wartime sabotage reads more like an Ian Fleming thriller than a mere retelling of events
—— Wall Street JournalWhat really sets the book apart from the host of look-alikes is Davis’s dedication to fleshing out the eccentricity of the main players… It is surely a good thing that we no longer associate war with adventure; if it were always as appealing as Davis has made it here, we would grow to love it too much
—— Daily BeastWith 22 novels, six poetical marathons and 11 more prose works under his belt, the most celebrated Scotsman of his day was the first author ever to be a best seller in all three genres. What other writer, dead for 170 years, still has fishing boats and a football team named in his honour?
—— Independent on SundayNo author - not even Ian Rankin, Alexander McCall Smith or JK Rowling - has ever been as critically acclaimed and commercially successful as Scott
—— Scotland on SundayProvides an informative introduction and excellent notes... Highly readable
—— TLSLucid and well-researched
—— Keith Lowe , Mail on SundayElegant
—— IndependentMoorhouse is the best guide now available to explain…the awful consequences for those caught in the unscrupulous coils of dictatorship
—— Richard Overy , Literary ReviewThorough and eloquent... a scholarly yet accessible reminder of the frighteningly tangible costs of totalitarianism
—— New StatesmanRoger Moorhouse’s definitive book blends eyewitness accounts with an authoritative master narrative… The Devils’ Alliance is not just a good book, it’s an important one, making a significant contribution to our understanding of the two worst dictators of the 20th Century, and the calamitous conflict they both had a hand in causing
—— History of War MagazineIn this profoundly researched, briskly argued and wonderfully readable book, full of dramatic and darkly comic detail, Roger Moorhouse has done history a great service. He has rescued one of the Second World War’s dirtiest little secrets from the shadows into which the pro-Soviet bias of post-war historians had swept it and reveals in all its moral squalor the deal that made it possible for Hitler to go to war.
—— Professor Adam ZamoyskiA terrifying account of cynical diplomacy, deceit, untrammelled power and the echoes that can be heard even now
—— Sinclair McKay , Daily TelegraphAuthoritative, highly readable account.
—— Lawrence James , The TimesIntelligent, well-informed.
—— Evan Mawdsley , BBC History MagazineHas a lot more to offer than the usual facts and figures thrown together about a largely forgotten part of history… This has a certain amount of written fluidity… I have read any number of books about this subject and I have to say that this is one of the best researched that I have found… I found it a satisfying read throughout, I learnt a lot and filled in a few holes in my knowledge, an excellent book.
—— Reg Seward , NudgeI am chilled to the bone and beyond ... the most extraordinary story ... absolutely fascinating
—— Vanessa FeltzAn accessible and anecdotal account of the battle and the men who waged it, full of colour and surprising detail
—— Charlotte Heathcote , Daily ExpressFascinating, thought-provoking and entertaining. Explodes a number of self-serving myths
—— Andrew Roberts (on 'Destiny in the Desert: The Road to El Alamein')Fresh and provocative
—— Peter Snow (on 'Destiny in the Desert')A wonderfully incisive, superbly written history. What Dimbleby has nailed so brilliantly is what so many war historians miss: the big picture
—— Saul David (on 'Destiny in the Desert')I enjoyed this book immensely…This book fills a vast gap in our knowledge of history and I am glad to have read it.
—— Reg Seward , NudgeThis is a compelling book…It’s a story of endurance – of place as well as people – and ultimately, it’s uplifting.
—— Psychology, 'Our Friends at BBC 4'A brilliant way of coming at the history of Berlin and Germany itself, which shows how people coped with the vicissitudes of the regime.
—— Country and Town HouseHarding has recorded the fate of the house and its inhabitants, from the Weimar republic until reunification. This is German history in microcosm ... as exciting as a good historical novel.
—— Die WeltAn inspirational read: highly recommended.
—— Western Morning NewsA genuinely remarkable work of biographical innovation.
—— Stuart Kelly , TLS, Books of the YearI’d like to reread Ruth Scurr’s John Aubrey every Christmas for at least the next five years: I love being between its humane pages, which celebrate both scholarly companionship and deep feeling for the past
—— Alexandra Harris , GuardianRuth Scurr’s innovative take on biography has an immediacy that brings the 17th century alive
—— Penelope Lively , GuardianAnyone who has not read Ruth Scurr’s John Aubrey can have a splendid time reading it this summer. Scurr has invented an autobiography the great biographer never wrote, using his notes, letters, observations – and the result is gripping
—— AS Byatt , GuardianA triumph, capturing the landscape and the history of the time, and Aubrey’s cadence.
—— Daily TelegraphA brilliantly readable portrait in diary form. Idiosyncratic, playful and intensely curious, it is the life story Aubrey himself might have written.
—— Jane Shilling , Daily MailScurr knows her subject inside out.
—— Simon Shaw , Mail on SundayThe diligent Scurr has evidence to support everything… Learning about him is to learn more about his world than his modest personality, but Scurr helps us feel his pain at the iconoclasm and destruction wrought by the Puritans without resorting to overwrought language.
—— Nicholas Lezard , GuardianAcclaimed and ingeniously conceived semi-fictionalised autobiography… Scurr’s greatest achievement is to bring both Aubrey and his world alive in detail that feels simultaneously otherworldly and a mirror of our own age… It’s hard to think of a biographical work in recent years that has been so bold and so wholly successful.
—— Alexander Larman , Observer