Ill Met By Moonlight

This book was first written in the closing days of World War II but was not permitted to be published by the British government because of the sensitive intelligence information it contains. Over the years since then the book was revised and rewritten by the author, W. Stanley Moss, and collected forewards and annotations by Patrick Leigh Fermor and Sir Iain Moncrieffe.If those names sound familiar it's because those three men, plus others referred to in Ill Met By Moonlight, were all luminaries of the British Intelligence Services during and after World War II. Their exploits became material for Ian Fleming's (another veteran of British Intelligence) James Bond and many other fictional characters. But Ill Met By Moonlight is absolutely true. It is the story of a group of British commandos, led by Moss and including Fermor among others, who secreted themselves into Crete during the war to prey upon and damage the German occupying forces there. Their exploits were many and legendary, but the chief one covered in this book is the waylaying, kidnapping, and transfer into Allied hands of a German general. It all sounds incredible, but it all happened. The book is written in a style reminiscent of "Boy's Own Paper" and other periodicals aimed at young boys and men. Every page is filled with excitement and bravado. After you read Ill-Met By Moonlight, you'll never again brush James Bond movies aside as too bizarre to have really happened, and realize that if anything Ian Fleming's legendary agent is but a pale shadow of reality.

This is a great WWII adventure. The story is true and well written. A nonfiction adventure is always better than some of the fictional stuff thats on the market. I found it interesting to use Google Maps of Crete, to plot the route of the kidnaping of the German general and the ultimate escape of the kidnappers. Good story.................

Having gone through most of Patrick Leigh Fermor’s works, this was on my list for quite some time. After watching the 1950s Dirk Bogarde film version, I decided to pick it up. The book does not disappoint as a straightforward account of an audacious - and ultimately successful - plan to kidnap a Nazi general from Crete in the later stages of WW2. The afterword and post script by Leigh Fermor round out the details of a real life secret mission.

This is a young man's story, as it happened, of a daring plan and its accomplishment despite almost everything working out other than supposed. The camaraderie among the Brits and the Cretans is moving and enviable. The cheerful endurance of hardship and hunger and the emotional buoyancy amid the deaths of comrades and ever present danger seems a product of youth, a British upbringing, and the happy personality of the writer. The writing, on the spot and minimally corrected, is truly superb: vivid yet literary. War is certainly awful and scary but also fun, when cleverness, knowledge, alacrity and loyalty bring success. This is low tech outwitting of a formidable foe.

The Robert Kaplan read from a few weeks ago was not highly reviewed and a disappointment by Kaplan standards, but its saving grace was references to Mediterranean readings, the authors which travel authors namedrop to lend credence and context to their writing. One of the works Kaplan mentioned has turned out to be a preview of Inglorious Bastards. Instead of France and Jews, this work by W. Stanley Moss, known to his contemporaries as Billy, uses Crete and an unsophisticated, proud group of bandits for justice, the Cretans. They are helped of course by the same British types like Moss, who are as coolly calculating and suavely subversive as the spy Mike Myers hires during the escalation of Quentin Tarantino’s movie. The target objective was General Kreipe, who could have done much more as a villainous Nazi antagonist. These Nazis are not those of other war narratives. Moss and his associates are tracked, but all of the British-Cretan efforts go over without a hitch. Kreipe, Moss continually states, is reserved, quiet, and complicit during his abduction and during all of the hiking across the island. If anything, his role is humorous, such as the time he fell off a mule on a steep grade and hurt his shoulder blade. The cursing and the complaints of imminent death would be more appropriate from a cranky teenager who doesn’t want to be outdoors. Patrick Leigh Fermor is a charismatic presence, as well as a highly anticipated one. His name is “Paddy” and he seems to be ahead of and in charge of the subterfuge. As a mastermind, he also keeps the coolest of mannerisms, and I have to wonder if this is all just the stylings of a seasoned pre-cursor to the James Bond type of intelligence training. Another work I could compare this to is the one about Adolf Eichmann’s capture in Argentina. Often the execution of government and military ops is ground down into the agents’ willingness and ability to suffer cold and, in the case of Moss, a never-ending abundance of flea-ridden caves.

Got the impression that the plan may have been hatched while their captive general's far more oppressive and vicious predecessor was in charge of the island. His capture would have been far more worthy of the effort and risk (especially to the islanders). Their nonchalance in the face of their own risks came across as a merry jape, which it certainly wasn't. Who dares wins! Such pokes in the eye carry weight.

Lyrically written, but lacks a dynamic to keep the reader entranced. I would have expected more discussion of the relationship between Gen. Kreipke and his captors but maybe that has to be left to the account by Leigh Fermor.

Colourful and thrilling account of the capture & abduction of German General Kreipe Commander of all German forces in Crete by Patrick Leigh Fermor and members of the Cretan Resistance and their hazardous journey across the mountains while thousands of German troops searched for them in vain... The Royal Navy picked them all up and spirited the gallant band and their captured prey to Cairo.

Starting from an average novel from Simon Scarrow on the English on Crete I took great interest in the events of that time. I made my way via the original account of George Psychoundakis (The Cretan Runner) over Christopher Mc Dougall (Natural Born Heroes) to this account of W. Stanley Moss. There are many more accounts from that time from People who were part of the events.The stories are very similar, of course of historic interest, however of limited literary quality.

Something a little different from the usual WWII stories told in a very matter of fact but light hearted manner. It was a real eye opener from the point of view of people actually taking part rather than a Hollywood version of events. Highly recommended for anyone interested in this period.

Excellent, glad to see the photos are in this paperback edition. This book is a true and factual account of one of the most daring and interesting stories coming out of WWII. It is a must read for all WWII history buffs.

Je connaissais deja le livre. Je voulais en faire cadeau a un ami. C'est un livre passionant, une histoire vraie, qui se passait enChypre pendant la deuxieme guerre mondiale, une histoire d'audace, de courage, plein d'humour aussi. Je le recommanderais a tous mes amis.(Ill Met by Moonlight)