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bookzealots's review against another edition
the beginning was very similar to Roald Dahl's biographical books and I felt as though I was rereading the books. Every time I look at it, I just sink, ugh. I'm going to unhaul it. I was interested in Dahl's connection with the British secret service.
cheericrow23's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
1.75
As a historical reference I suppose this is fine but it felt like such a strangely passive written account that could have been so much more engaging
bsmorris's review against another edition
3.0
I couldn't finish this after all. It should be a very interesting topic, but I'm extremely hard to please when it comes to non-fiction. I just didn't find the writer's style to be very engaging. I wish I liked this book more.
pio_near's review
4.0
Such a great story... Taking one of the worlds beloved children's authors and givi g us the seedy underbelly of his life, political maneuvers included! A little bit jumpy when introducing other characters, but overall an enjoyable read!
nssutton's review
3.0
another christmas gift i didn't get to read it until now. i should have held off until after the semester, as my stop-start reading cycle made it hard to appreciate the book. i sort of just wanted incredibly sordid details about dahl's love life, so the inside scoop on the BSC was lost on me. still love a good espionage tale, just had hoped for something a little different.
mvancamp's review against another edition
4.0
This was a very entertaining book. As a childhood fan of Dahl (and especially his two autobiographies) I decided to read this well-reviewed book. I have no idea what I was in for. It came as a complete shock to me the number of people Dahl interacted with while in DC. He knew everyone who was anyone in the political world during and after WWII. Though Dahl is the main focus, the book also looks at other famous members of this group of spies (William Stephenson, David Oglivy, Ian Fleming, to name a few). This is an engrossing and well-told look at Dahl's work as a covert operative--complete with debauchery and many cocktails--working for the Allied cause during WWII.
risagross's review against another edition
3.0
Had no idea of Dahl's involvement -- or of his extensive network in the US.
lakecake's review against another edition
4.0
I've got a thing for World War II era history, and I love how these smaller side stories mesh in with the larger stories everyone already knows. Involving the same cast of "characters," but in very different settings, this is a well researched look at a relatively unknown part of British-American history. A lot of the reviews on GoodReads claim this book is boring, but I don't know how they can say that! Maybe they just aren't generally non-fiction readers. Don't let the reviews scare you away--entertaining and informative!