Double Cross: Deception Techniques in War

Gr 7 Up—One cannot always believe one's eyes or ears, especially if one is engaged in war. Janeczko opens with the story of the Trojan horse and explains that though it may have been based in mythology, it is still a solid example of a tactic referred to as a "feint." Janeczko then describes Gideon's biblical victory over the Midianites in the Old Testament. Readers who are familiar with the major operations of World War I and World War II will learn how an enormous number of military deceptions were planned and executed (e.g., the escape of thousands of Allied troops from Gallipoli while under the eyes of Turkish forces in the First World War). The author touches briefly on U.S. wars in Korea and Vietnam, where many of these techniques were considered to be outdated or somewhat dishonest. The last section describes how deceptions and GPS were successfully used against Saddam Hussein in the Gulf War. However, the work ends rather abruptly, with no real conclusion.