CHURCHILL’S WIZARDS

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Faber and Faber Ltd, 3 Queen Square, London WC1N 3AU.
466pp, 160×240mm, hardback. ISBN 9780571221950, ₤25.00

This is about the men who created both mental and physical camouflage in two World Wars. Although deceiving was common long before then – the Rifles were wearing green uniforms with black facings in the Peninsular War – it was the advent of the aeroplane as a weapon of war that gave a massive impetus to the whole business of hiding things from prying eyes, or letting those eyes see things that were not there. And this is where our interest lies. The book is about the masters of these crafts, some of them household names like Lawrence of Arabia, about whom I learnt a lot new. The more interesting such as Solomon J. Solomon and Dudley Clarke I’d never heard of. Nearly all of them had thoroughly enjoyable wars. It is beautifully written, and adequately illustrated. I really enjoyed reading this book.