The Secret War Against Hitler

Rating:
Summary: A better title would have been British spy vs. American spy
Review: The British secret service was the best in the world, in experience, technology & contacts. When America entered the war,they had to share & they didn't like it one bit. They looked with distain & mistrust at the fledgling American intelligence efforts. They obstructed, were in flexible & fought for every inch of turf. The Yanks & the Brits both mistrusted the French. That & lots of names was the first half of the book (audiotape). Frankly a little boring.
The book picks up as Mr. Casey gets a little autobiographical with his actual involvement in 1943. What the Americans brought to the table was economic intelligence such as the cost benefit of strategic vs tactical operations, air vs ground activities etc. This type of intelligence was apparently unknown to the British. Mr. Casey discusses the opposition, even in Germany & the military to Hitler & the Nazis It was considerable. He evaluates the resistance groups in the occupied countries.
The result is an entertaining, informative & inside look at Allied espionage in World War II.

Rating:
Summary: very technical
Review: the idea for the book is excellent, a version of secret history from one who was there. I am very interested in WWII era so I looked forward to reading the book. Became bored half way through aa I thought the book would be more designed to be on the exciting side of espionage. Found it too overwhelming with the political problems and underwhelming in the telling of the work done by the agents in enemy territory. Of course, he wasn't behind the lines himself so perhaps my original thought of new stories about the OSS was out of line. From Casey's viewpoint, the book was interesting, but not compelling.

Rating:
Summary: Military Intelligence is all too often not know by readers
Review: To fully appreciate this type of book the reader should be aware of the other books relating to ULTRA and MAGIC. With these three in mind the reader should see the virtually unknown aspect of major wars. Many an unsung hero is overlooked since Military Intelligence and covert activities requires that the folks involved be hiddden. Casey adds another dimension to the constantly unfolding aspects of WW II as well as possible aspects of all future conflicts. The examples of Polish and French covert activities is not well known. The final item to consider when reading these types of books is which commanders did and did not use this wealth on information while preparinbg for battle o while in battle. As an example, did MacArthur have intelligencee before he invaded Inchon in Korea??? Did he have inntelligence before he raced to the yalu River claiming that the Chinese would not get involve? or, did he chose to ignore this intelligence? What did Westmoreland know or not know about the War in Vietnam?