The War Magician cover art

The War Magician

The Man Who Conjured Victory in the Desert

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The War Magician

By: David Fisher
Narrated by: Alex Jennings
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About this listen

The incredible true story of the greatest illusionist of modern times and the man who altered the course of the second world war.

Soon to be a major film starring Benedict Cumberbatch.

Jasper Maskelyne was a world famous magician and illusionist in the 1930s. When war broke out, he volunteered his services to the British Army and was sent to Egypt when the desert war began.

Here, he used his unique skills to save the vital port of Alexandria from German bombers and to 'hide' the Suez Canal from them. He invented all sorts of camouflage methods to make trucks look like tanks and vice versa. On Malta he developed 'the world's first portable holes': fake bomb craters used to fool the Germans into thinking they had hit their targets.

His war culminated in the brilliant deception plan that helped win the Battle of El Alamein: the creation of an entire dummy army in the middle of the desert.

©2023 David Fisher (P)2023 Bonnier Books UK Armed Forces Military Military & War Special & Elite Forces World War II War Magic Users Africa Middle East

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Critic reviews

"A richly entertaining read." (Sunday Times)
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Fantastic unbelievable, really worth a listen, how many lives must have been saved due this man’s imagination.

Who could have believed how much was owed to this man.

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What's not to like? An astonishing true story, beautifully written and exquisitely read. I've got over 200 books in my audio library, this makes the top 10. I hope the upcoming film does the story justice.

An incredible story

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Most men of a certain age have heard of Jadper Maskelyne, but few know very much about him, or his war record.

David Fisher has done an incredible job of weaving a narrative thst puts flesh on the bones of this enigmatic hero.

Akex Jennings has complemented the author by bringing the story to life in a wonderful way. His accents are excellent and he changes the tempo of his reading to suit the moment very well.

I was spellbound by this book and will definitely listen to it again in the near future.

A superb story about one of the more enigmatic figures of WW2

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There are a plethora of WWII books on audible. Most are interesting; some are narrated nicely but few are written really well.
This ‘story’ about a war magician is incredible - I had not heard it before despite being a bit of a boring war buff.
The thing that really sets the book apart is that it is written with real flair and therefore succeeds on many levels.
The historian may take exception to some of the detail in the prose (how could the author really know some of the minor details he describes), but that is what makes it such an engaging read.
I thoroughly recommend it: one of the best war books I have ever read.

Great story, brilliantly read and beautifully written

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An incredible story of those involved in deception and sleight of hand to confuse and trick the axis forces during the desert campaign.
A bit rambling and jumpy in places, but a fascinating story and well worth the read for anyone interested in ww2.

Fascinating

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I hope the upcoming movie of this book lives up to the book its self. Infact it would make a good mini series A brilliant amazing supprising story well read by Alex Jennings. I can't recommend it enough

Amazing

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Unfortunately Maskelyne's exploits as outlined in the book, do not often have the best historical evidence, suggest people look further online before purchasing this book, and consider the critism before buying the book. The narrator is good, and engaging, and the story is decent enough, just its more historical fiction rather than being a true story.

Nice story, but not quite true.

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