The Ariadne Objective: The Underground War to Rescue Crete from the Nazis by Wes Davis

The Ariadne Objective: The Underground War to Rescue Crete from the Nazis by Wes Davis - 352 pages

The Ariadne Objective details the guerrilla and special operations war in Crete during World War II.  The first half of the book introduces the British Special Operations Executive officers who coordinate the resistance and covers the early years of the German occupation and the establishment of the resistance operations, including sabotage and espionage.  The second half of the book details two major undercover operations conducted on Crete: one to extract an Italian  general and the planned abduction of a German general.  Key players (and archaeologists/authors/translators/) included John Pendlebury, Xan Fielding, Tom Dunbabin, Patrick Leigh Fermor, and Stanley William Moss.

What did I like about this title? The introductory material on the British officers established them as common people. I also liked how it balanced mission planning with the actual missions. If this was not enough, many of the SOE officer's outlandish plans were reminiscent of these seen on Hogan's Heroes and actually worked. The descriptions of the officer's off-duty time were almost exactly like those seen in M*A*S*H*. When all of this was combined, it made the Ariadne Objective the best history book I have read in years.

I received an advanced reader's copy of this title through Goodreads. The Ariadne Objective will be released on 11/12/13. If you would like to learn more about this book, check out this link.