The Brenner Assignment

A small team of American spies parachute into Italy behind enemy lines. Their orders: link up with local partisans and sabotage the well-guarded Brenner Pass, the Nazis' crucial supply route through the Alps, thereby bringing the German war effort in Italy to a grinding halt.

Like a scene from Where Eagles Dare, a small team of American spies parachutes into Italy behind enemy lines. Their orders: link up with local partisans and sabotage the well-guarded Brenner Pass—the Nazis' crucial supply route through the Alps—thereby bringing the German war effort in Italy to a grinding halt.

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 The author proposed to drop a man by parachute on the open country between Pocol and the Falzarego Pass, and drop enough Army mountain rations and personal equipment to sustain him indefinitely in the peaks if necessary. #2 Roderick Stephen Goodspeed Hall, born in Peking, China, in 1915, came from a privileged background. He attended Harvard University, and after a couple of semesters, he dropped out and went to Italy for the 1937-38 winter on a ski trip. #3 The OSS was America’s first central intelligence organization. It was created in the summer of 1941. Before the OSS was created, multiple government departments gathered information in reports sent arbitrarily up the chain of command in the hope that the most crucial information would reach the White House. #4 President Franklin Delano Roosevelt chose Wall Street lawyer William J. Donovan to lead the new agency, the OSS. He was a highly decorated hero of World War I, and he developed an integrated combined arms approach of shadow-war techniques.

A riveting first-hand account of the fierce battle for Fallujah during the Iraq War and the Marines who fought there--a story of brotherhood and sacrifice in a platoon of heroes Five months after being deployed to Iraq, Lima Company's 1st Platoon, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, found itself in Fallujah, embroiled in some of the most intense house-to-house, hand-to-hand urban combat since World War II. In the city's bloody streets, they came face-to-face with the enemy-radical insurgents high on adrenaline, fighting to a martyr's death, and suicide bombers approaching from every corner. Award-winning author and historian Patrick O'Donnell stood shoulder to shoulder with this modern band of brothers as they marched and fought through the streets of Fallujah, and he stayed with them as the casualties mounted.

The first-ever full story of American sabotage operations in World War II, based on hundreds of revealing interviews. The battles of World War II were won not only by the soldiers on the front lines, and not only by the generals and admirals, but also by the shadow warriors whose work is captured for the first time in Operatives, Spies, and Saboteurs. Thanks to the interviews and narrative skills of Patrick O'Donnell and to recent declassifications, an entire chapter of history can now be revealed. A hidden war—a war of espionage, intrigue, and sabotage—played out across the occupied territories of Europe, deep inside enemy lines. Supply lines were disrupted; crucial intelligence was obtained and relayed back to the Allies; resistance movements were organized. Sometimes, impromptu combat erupted; more often, the killing was silent and targeted. The full story of the Office of Strategic Services—OSS, precursor to the CIA—is a dramatic final chapter on one of history's most important conflicts. In a world made unrecognizable by the restrictions placed on the CIA today, OSS played fast and loose. Legendary chief "Wild Bill" Donovan created a formidable organization in short order, recruiting not only the best and brightest, but also the most fearless. His agents, both men and women, relied on guile, sex appeal, brains, and sheer guts to operate behind the lines, often in disguise, always in secret. Patrick O'Donnell has made it his life's mission to capture untold stories of World War II before the last of its veterans passes away. He has succeeded in extracting stories from the toughest of men, the most elite of soldiers, and, now, the most secretive of all: the men and women of OSS. From former CIA director William Colby, who parachuted into Norway to sever rail lines, to Virginia Hall, who disguised herself as a milkmaid, joined the French Resistance, and became one of Germany's most wanted figures, the stories of OSS are worthy of great fiction. Yet the stories in this book are all true, carefully verified by O'Donnell's painstaking research. The agents of OSS did not earn public acclaim. There were no highly publicized medal ceremonies. But the full story of OSS reveals crucial work in espionage and sabotage, work that paved the way for the Allied invasions and disrupted the Axis defenses. Operatives, Spies, and Saboteurs proves that the hidden war was among the most dramatic and important elements of World War II.

Having barely escaped Germany, several Jewish friends are determined to strike back at the Third Reich while their families languish in concentration camps. After months of training with the U.S. Army, a small group of spies is formed, including several former German soldiers now willing to betray their Fuhrer for the greater good of Germany. The mission's commander is a Jewish sergeant who only months earlier was plucked from the streets of Brooklyn. The men are sent on a covert operation deep into the heavily fortified area of Austria's Alpine Redoubt, where Hitler planned to make his last stand. Capture meant almost certain death; success, a swift end to the war. Using recently declassified files, private documents, and personal interviews, military historian Patrick K. O'Donnell has written another cinematic World War II drama, filled with an unforgettable cast of characters and packed with action, suspense, and intrigue.