Bodyguard of Lies

'', dated February 1944 Bodyguard of Lies was the British-born Brown's first published book, following his career as a journalist in the United Kingdom and Australia. Brown began researching and writing Bodyguard of Lies in 1961, at a time when details of both cryptography and deception during the war were still classified. His attempts at research was resisted by the British and American governments; he was denied access to British war records and had to undertake considerable work into the 1970s to obtain US records via Freedom of Information requests. Consequently, most of the material is based on oral testimony from Second World War intelligence personnel, as well as records from the National Archives and declassified American records (although Brown says that most of the book was written before he was able to access the latter, in 1974). ==Synopsis==

("First US Army Group") Bodyguard of Lies opens with an introduction to Ultra, the codename for decrypted high-level World War II signals intelligence. It goes on to document the origins of the London Controlling Section (LCS) and the work of Dudley Clarke in the Middle East. In late 1942, Allied high command in London became aware of Clarke's successes during the North African campaign. Based on his theories of deception, the LCS was created under Colonel John Bevan and granted broad powers to plan deception strategy. The introduction finishes with a discussion of how the Allies evolved deception strategy prior to 1943, including its Double-Cross System of Allied double agents. The second section of the book introduces the German intelligence forces, in particular Admiral Canaris and the Abwehr intelligence agency he headed. Brown discusses early deceptions, such as those surrounding Operation Torch, conducted against the Germans, and how the Abwehr struggled to decipher the information it was being fed. The third section of the book covers Allied deceptions during 1943, in particular Operation Mincemeat. Brown introduces Plan Jael, the early revision of Operation Bodyguard, and follows Bevan's work in creating the deception plan. The fourth section covers the events of early 1944, leading up to the Normandy landings on 6 June. In particular, Brown discusses Operation Fortitude and the fictional First US Army Group (FUSAG), a key part of Bodyguard, calling it "the greatest charade in history". The final section of the book covers events on and after D-Day, including physical deceptions carried out on the night of the invasion, and the continued impact of Bodyguard in the months after the landings. ==Critical reception==

The book received mixed reviews, particularly with regard to Brown's focus on minutiae. In 1976 New Scientist praised the level of detail, venturing that it "would ensure a large sale". ==References==