Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Operation Biting:
Disclaimer: No actual biting occurs.
Quick synopsis:
The story of the British parachute assault to capture Nazi radar in 1942.
Fact for Non-History People:
British paratroopers did not have reserve shoots while U.S paratroopers did.
Fact for History Nerds:
General Eisenhower started World War II a colonel but finished the war as a 5-star general. Montgomery was a divisional commander but ended as field-marshal.
My Take on Operation Biting:
Fun fact: No one actually gets bit in Operation Biting by Max Hastings. Some Nazis do get a measure of comeuppance, though which is nice.
Operation Biting is about a 1942 British commando raid to steal a radar from the Germans in occupied France. The Allies really wanted to know what the Nazis had going as far as their radar was concerned, and this raid was audacious. I don’t use “audacious” a lot because I need to really mean it. Operation Biting fits the bill. Commandos landed in the middle of the night, charged into a German base, stole technology, and then had to rendezvous with the navy before being killed. As someone who has jumped out of military planes before, I can assure you this was a bonkers plan.
Hastings tells the story succinctly. This is not a World War II book which explains every aspect of how England got to this mission. There are a lot of characters, but Hastings dispenses with any detail not needed to understand the story. This is a double-edged sword. I really appreciated the stripped-down narrative, but I also found myself wanting to spend a little more time with some characters. This is a nitpick, though. Any World War II nerd will want this book on their shelves.
(This book was provided as an advance copy by Netgalley and Harper Books.)
Verdict:
A fun jaunt for World War II junkies. Buy it here!
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