| | Most Secret War |  | Author: R V Jones
Publisher: H Hamilton
Category: Book
List Price: £12.00
Buy Used: £4.50
You Save: £7.50 (62%)
Avg. Customer Rating:  11 reviews
Sales Rank: 320447
Pages: 556
ISBN: 0241897467
EAN: 9780241897461
ASIN: 0241897467
Publication Date: February 27, 1978
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: This is the BCA 1978 hb edition. A good, clean tight copy still in its original unclipped rubbed dustjacket. Dispatched from the UK next working day. Email confirmation of dispatch.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 6 more reviews...
Most Secret War by Prof. R V Jones July 17, 2008
Everything that has been said in the reviews about this book are true but I feel do not say enough about the man, who Churchill said in his memoirs, saved Britain. He was well known in war time intelligence circles as being strong willed and maybe this is why he was treated so shabbily by this country even after Baroness Thatcher called him out of retirement during the Falklands War. On the other hand the Americans recognised what a great man he was and the CIA in the 1990's announced they were using his name for some sort of training exercise, I believe. Basically his treatment by this wonderful country mirrored Frank Whittle's.
The story of a genuine genius April 4, 2008
Buy this and read it! When I am asked what is my favourite book, this is one which always comes to mind (the other is usually Shogun by James Clavell) Any book which I have read more times than I can remember must have something going for it. My copy is the first Coronet paperback edition of 1979, and is falling to pieces! It is an account of the part played by the author and his colleagues in countering the threat posed by the new weapons invented by the Germans in the second world war. I am impressed not only by Dr Jones intellect, but also his willingness to give credit to others' contributions. His analytical approach is worth remembering for use today, although how he co-ordinated that much information on his own beats me, and would be quite a challenge for the latest computer-based systems. This book is a fascinating insight into the way British Intelligence worked, or nearly didn't work, during WW2. The downside of this insight is the way that some human beings will fight for their own career progression even during a time when you would normally expect all hands to the pump. Still, that's human nature, I suppose. Fortunately, Britain had people of the calibre of R V Jones to oppose both them and the Nazi menace.
Wonderful, revelatory gem of a book May 25, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Great book, this. I read it a few years ago and found it consistently fascinating. I'm not an aficionado of World War II books, but this concoction of science, history, personal experience and revelation of wartime political and military strategy is really very gripping.
Interestingly, the reason this book really sticks in my mind is that I think it subtly changed the way I think about things. Like another reviewer, I found my first explanation of Occam's Razor here, and R.V. Jones does it better than anyone I've found since. His good-natured clear thinking takes you by the hand and leads you easily through an intriguing history of a conflict with the highest of stakes. By the end, I couldn't help but feel that I'd genuinely profited by the time I'd spent soaking up Mr Jones' immensely practical and refreshingly unexaggerated account. As a writer who engagingly expresses factual material without taking recourse to hyperbole and melodrama, R.V. Jones deserves to share a bookshelf with Carl Sagan. Highly recommended.
Most Excellent Book March 20, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
A very, very good book and undoubtedly the best book I have read on the subject of anticipating the Germans'scientific advacements during the Second World War. A very clever man, R V Jones is able to explain with utmost clarity, the secret world of his and many others', research. The daily anticipation of their results and whether these could affect the next bombing raids, for example, is clearly explained and adds suspense to the book. It covers not just the successes but also the dissapointments. The development of Radar and Infrared technology, how this was achieved and the "Battle of the Beams" are amazing stories in their own right. I have lost count the number of times I have re read the book.
R V Jones....a Masterpiece.....what really happened... July 16, 2003
16 out of 16 found this review helpful
I first purchased this book (an earlier edition) over 15 years ago and still read it form time to time. Mr.R.V. Jones in my view was a very clever man who fully understood the on-coming threat posed by the Germans. If there had ever been the right man for the job,(R.V.Jones) it was him. The book might read that he was the only person working for the Government who fully understand what scientific advances the Germans were making at the time, but you will notice he goes out of his way to mention everybody involved in his work. He also adds some comical notes about his early experiments which brings out his "I'm only human" side of him. By the time you have finished the book, you feel as if you have been there with him, through the long struggle with the British Establishment to accept the threat the Germans posed!
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