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The War Magician: The True Story of Jasper Maskelyne

Author: David Fisher
Publisher: Phoenix
Category: Book

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Rating: 2.0 out of 5 stars

4 reviews
Sales Rank: 245813

Media: Paperback
Edition: New Ed
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5.1 x 1

ISBN: 0304367095
EAN: 9780304367092
ASIN: 0304367095

Publication Date: October 13, 2005
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: ex shop display copy, lightly shopsoiled cover, lightly tanned page edges

Also Available In:

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Customer Reviews:

3 out of 5 stars

Fact or fiction October 7, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

There is a lot of discussion on whether or not this book is fact or fiction. I picked it up to read because it was a work of "Non-Fiction". But after reading it I am not sure. The book does have verifiable historical detail. But it is filled with complete conversations of the characters/subjects. It seemed to me to be more of a historical novel. Though I do not think everything in the book is accurate, Most of what he is attributed to have done is plausible.

The War Magician written by David Fisher claims to be a true account of the exploits of the illusionist Jasper Maskelyne during the Second World War. Mr. Maskelyne comes from a long line of magicians. And like his ancestor who used his magic knowledge to help T.E. Lawrence in Arabia in WW I, he wanted to do his part in WW II. And so he does. His skills are used to help the British forces in developing new and creative weapons of illusion. Like making the armies look larger then they actually were. To innovations in camouflage, which are very interesting. And these camouflage techniques would take a mind such as Maskelyne had to conceive and execute.

The book makes for very interested reading. And just goes to remind us, that with enough ingenuity and hard work, anything can be accomplished. Regardless if the book is all factual, or if there is some embellishment, it is worth the read.

3 out of 5 stars

Mixed feelings August 31, 2007
I agree with the previous reviewer, you never know what's historical truth and what's dramatisation. I'm not sure that matters though, because the story is fascinating. You know that Rommel is going to get beaten in the end, but you're not sure how much damage he did before El Alamein so you keep on reading. The style's very dry and I must admit I skipped pages when one mission seemed too much like another, but I enjoyed the book all the same, and wanted to know more about the subject which is for me is a fairly reliable test of whether it's a good read or not.

1 out of 5 stars

Total Hogwash March 20, 2007
1 out of 5 found this review helpful

This book may be entertaining, but nothing about it is true. As history it is total rubbish, being based on Maskelyne's entirely tendentious ghost-written memoir. If anyone wants to know the full, and very detailed history of Allied Deception in the Second World War, they need go no further than Thaddeus Holt's 1100-page 'The Deceivers'.

2 out of 5 stars

A strange read June 18, 2006
6 out of 11 found this review helpful

One of the most puzzling books I have ever read. An amazing tale to be sure, but the manner of the telling is very odd. If Mr. Fisher had kept to a straight factual account I would trust its content a lot more than I do. Unfortunately, he insists on dramatising some events and with all those adverbs and modifiers scattered through his prose I just do not know what is the product of his imagination and what is factually accurate. The lack of chapter notes is telling. If he cannot source the events and dialogue he uses then he should not pretend that this is a factual account.

A very strange read. It is as if a film screenplay has been turned into a book.