Believable Lies

The Misfits Who Fought Churchill's Secret Propaganda War

Terry Stiastny

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Hardback

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English

W H Allen
12 July 2025

History; British & Irish history; Social & cultural history

The true story of the clandestine British organisation briefed to wage psychological warfare to beat the Nazis, for fans of Ben Macintyre and Sinclair McKay

Meet the misfits and mavericks who waged psychological warfare against the Nazis

September, 1939. While Britain hovered on the brink of the Second World War, a team of unlikely and ill-assorted characters assembled in their secret headquarters. They had left their civilian roles as politicians, journalists, novelists and spies, advertisers, artists and even forgers, to work for a covert government organisation. Their goals- to weaken enemy morale, sow confusion and encourage resistance. In the 'hush-hush' village of Aspley Guise near Woburn Abbey (8 miles from the codebreakers at Bletchley Park), they set to work.

The once top-secret wartime efforts of the Political Warfare Executive were remarkable in their variety and inventiveness - from pornographic leaflet drops to rumour campaigns, underground publications and fake French and German radio shows. But to break Nazi morale, these men and women found themselves skirting the edges of their own morality. What do you lose when you deploy lies - even brilliant, believable lies - to achieve your ends?

By: Terry Stiastny
Imprint: W H Allen
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 241mm, Width: 163mm, Spine: 42mm
Weight: 747g
ISBN: 9780753559833
ISBN 10: 0753559838
Pages: 512
Publication Date: 12 July 2025
Audience: General/trade , College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , ELT Advanced , Primary
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Terry Stiastny is an author, journalist and broadcaster on national and international radio. She reports on British politics for Times Radio and is a frequent commentator on Monocle Radio. Her debut non-fiction book, Believable Lies, combines her interests in politics, international history and journalism. She has previously published two political thrillers- Acts of Omission and Conflicts of Interest (John Murray). Acts of Omission won Political Fiction Book of the Year at the Political Book Awards in 2015. Before that, Terry was a correspondent at the BBC, where she worked on radio and television, based in Westminster, Brussels and Berlin, and reporting from many other countries. She was educated at Oxford University, earning an M.Phil in International Relations. She lives in north London with her husband, two sons and dog.

Reviews for Believable Lies: The Misfits Who Fought Churchill's Secret Propaganda War

A fascinating story of truth and deceit. The Allied effort to shift the balance of the war through propaganda is here revealed as a tale of eccentricity, bitter rivalries and moments of pure genius -- Robert Hutton, author of THE ILLUSIONIST and AGENT JACK