Review: Short, Brisk, Non-fiction Account of a British Novelist's True Spymaster Career in WWII
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 09 7, 2012
"D for Deception" by Tina Rosenberg is a short (fewer than 100 pages?) non-fiction account which primarily chronicles the 3 WWII years spent in the service of the British war effort by famous English author Dennis Wheatley.Wheatley (6 January 1897 - 10 November 1977) was one of the world's best-selling authors of "stylish thrillers and occult novels" (see his Wikipedia page) from the 1930's to 1960s. His "successor" is often thought to be Ian Fleming, creator of the James Bond 007 novels.During WWII, Wheatley was a member of the London Controlling Section, whose brainy, creative members worked secretly with the British government and military to create and coordinate strategic deception for Britain and the Allies.  It is thought that their major accomplishment was keeping the date and location of the June 1944 invasion of France a total and complete secret from Hitler.As a chronicle, it is an okay read, neither exciting nor dull, but rather exactly what it purports to be - a modestly detailed account of Wheatley's contributions to the war effort as a master creator of deception against the Hitler war machine. Occasionally, when appropriate, Rosenberg inserts quotations from a relevant Wheatley spy novel to add spice to her non-fiction account.This little book is neither a biography nor a thriller. But for the Kindle price of $1.99 who can complain if you like the WWII espionage era? It's an average, quick read, harmless yet adding some interesting anecdotes to the storied era of England early in WWII.  Though Rosenberg is no great writer, after reading her little book, I now wish all of Wheatley's spy novels from the late 1930's to early 1940s were available on Kindle. Not yet, it seems.It's an automatic 3.