The Illusionist

The True Story of the Man Who Fooled Hitler

Robert Hutton

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Paperback

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English

Weidenfeld & Nicolson
30 April 2024

History; 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000; Second World War; Espionage & secret services

Cairo, 1942: If you had asked a British officer who Colonel Clarke was, they would have been able to point him out: always ready with a drink and a story, he was a well-known figure in the local bars. If you then asked what he did, you would have less success. Those who knew didn't tell, and almost no one really knew at all.

Clarke thought of himself as developing a new kind of weapon. Its components? Rumour, stagecraft, a sense of fun. Its target? The mind of Erwin Rommel, Hitler's greatest general. Throughout history, military commanders have sought to mislead their opponents. Dudley Clarke set out to do it on a scale no one had imagined before. Even afterwards, almost no one understood the magnitude of his achievement.

Drawing on recently released documents and hugely expanding on the louche portrait of Clarke as seen in SAS: Rogue Heroes, journalist and historian Robert Hutton reveals the amazing story of Clarke's A Force, the invention of the SAS and the Commandos, and the masterful hoodwinking of the Desert Fox at the battle of El Alamein. The Illusionist tells for the first time the dazzling tale of how,

at a pivotal moment in the war, British eccentricity and imagination combined to thwart the Nazis and save innumerable lives - on both sides.

By: Robert Hutton
Imprint: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 232mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 34mm
Weight: 500g
ISBN: 9781474626033
ISBN 10: 1474626033
Pages: 384
Publication Date: 30 April 2024
Audience: General/trade , College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , ELT Advanced , Primary
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Robert Hutton spent 16 years covering the British government for Bloomberg and is now sketchwriter for The Critic. He is the author of several books, most recently Agent Jack: The True Story of MI5's Secret Nazi Hunter (2019). @RobDotHutton www.roberthutton.co.uk

Reviews for The Illusionist: The True Story of the Man Who Fooled Hitler

Riveting. Truly revelatory. Jaw-dropping. Stranger than any fiction, you simply could not make these stories up. At last, Dudley Clarke and his extraordinary war as it deserved to be told. The master of lies, trickery and deception uncovered. Huzzah! Great fun and wonderfully written -- Damien Lewis * author of SAS: FORGED IN HELL * Robert Hutton has brilliantly brought one of the forgotten heroes of the Second World War back to the fore. Dudley Clarke not only emerges as a genius of deception but also as a colourful and highly attractive maverick who deserves far greater recognition. Hopefully, this page-turning and utterly compelling book will do just that. Superb -- James Holland A cracking tale. With admiration and pacy prose, Robert Hutton tracks one of the great British characters of WW2. Expect ingenuity and eccentricity by the barrow-load -- Sonia Purnell Hutton has revealed the brilliance of the 'master of deception', Dudley Clarke. It took a true creative eccentric like Clarke to become the brains behind the success of the SAS and commandos in North Africa. Meticulously researched, The Illusionist is simply superb -- Helen Fry