Deception in War : The Art of the Bluff, the Value of Deceipt, and the Most Thrilling Episodesof Cunning in Military History, from the Trojan Horse to the Gulf War

Deception on the battlefield is surely as old as warfare itself. The examples stretch from the very beginnings of recorded military history-to modern times, when technology has placed a stunning array of devices into the arsenals of military commanders. Military historians often underestimate the importance of deception in warfare. This book is the first to fully describe its value. Jon Latimer shows how simple some tricks have been, but also how technology has increased the range and subtlety of what is possible. He draws examples from land, sea, and air to show how great commanders have always had, as Winston Churchill put it, that indispensable "element of legerdemain, an original and sinister touch, which leaves the enemy puzzled as well as beaten."

John Latimer served for sixteen years as an officer in the Royal Welch Fusiliers, as Platoon Commander, Assault Troop Leader, and Battalion Intelligence Officer. He has published widely in military journals, and is also the author of Operation Compass 1940 and, with Jim Laurier, of CAM080 Tobruk 1941. His Deception in War was a selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club, the History Book Club, and the Military History Book Club.