

Man of War: The Secret Life of Captain Alan Hillgarth
'A lot of people know me,' wrote Alan Hillgarth, late in life 'but I'm very much an enigma to most of them. I'm a trouble-maker. I ride the storm.'
Alan Hillgarth was barely out of short trousers when he found himself thrust into the theatre of the First World War. Within months he had fought at close quarters in Gallipoli, bayoneted an attacking Turkish soldier, and had been shot in the head and leg. That was just the start of his adventures.
After the war, Hillgarth became an author of thrillers, a gold-hunter in South America, a diplomat and a spy-master. As British Consul in Majorca during the Spanish Civil War he saved countless lives acting as mediator between the two sides. During World War II he was Britain's most important intelligence officer in Spain and one of the key players in the successful Allied subterfuge Operation Mincemeat.
Later he became Chief of Intelligence for the Eastern Fleet, in Ceylon, and a key advisor and confidant to Churchill during and after the war. He lived a life away from the spotlight, but his bravery, dedication, and aptitude kept many from danger and greatly aided the Allied cause. He was, as Churchill once put it, 'pretty good.'
With exclusive access to the family archive, Hart-Davis has written a gripping, moving account of a hitherto neglected hero, uncovering the truth about an era previously shrouded in mystery and a man that wanted it that way.
Other books by Duff Hart-Davis
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Our Land at War: A Portrait of Rural Britain 1939-45