SOE in 100 Objects

The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was formed in 1940 to hamstring the enemy from the shadows and mobilise resistance and disrupt the occupying forces. Its missions spread worldwide and paved the way for D-Day and helped halt the Axis war machine. SOE in 100 Objects follows their trail across land and sea, from moonlight flights to high-risk missions and liberation.

Format: Hardback
Length: 400 pages
Publication date: 17 July 2025
Publisher: The History Press Ltd

By the summer of 1940, as France fell and war raged across Europe, the invasion of Britain – once unthinkable – seemed all but inevitable. It would take fresh thinking and bold moves to turn the tide of the war: a challenge that Churchill and his Cabinet would be set to conquer in no small part due to their formation of a ‘fifth column. The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was soon born, its purpose to hamstring the enemy from the shadows. Agents drawn from diverse professions and countries were trained in subversion and espionage before being dropped behind enemy lines to mobilise resistance and disrupt the occupying forces. From local operations in France and wider Europe, SOE's missions would spread worldwide to pave the way for D-Day and help halt the Axis war machine in its tracks. SOE in 100 Objects picks up the clues they left behind – a button compass in Greece, a silk map in Burma – and follows their trail across land and sea, from moonlight flights to high-risk missions and, ultimately, hard-won liberation.

Weight: 1006g
Dimension: 183 x 241 x 29 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780750997966