“Few fictional spy thrillers are as gripping as Ewen Montagu’s account of real-life British Intelligence operations during World War II.” Sunday Express

“My recollections of ‘The War to End Wars’ had convinced me that there were better ways of dying than in a modern army.”

A keen sailor in the years preceding the outbreak of World War II, Ewen Montagu joined the Navy’s supplementary reserve, hoping that they would find some use for him.

Following the emergence of his qualifications as a K.C. he found himself attached to the Admiralty and stepping into the shadowy world of British Intelligence.

For most officers Top Secret was the highest classification, but for those involved with Enigma it was Ultra Secret (Top Secret U), and yet there was a higher classification still.

Working under the Director of Naval Intelligence, Montagu was one of those few privy to that highest classification, beyond Top Secret U, and the Double Cross System.

Involved in the strategic deception surrounding D-Day and V-bombs, as well a lead role in Operation Mincemeat, his work was so secretive that it even prevented promotion.

Bringing to the fore the collaborative efforts of NID’s 17M, MI5’s B1A and the XX Committee, ‘Beyond Top Secret U’ is a very personal account of the secret war, filled with intrigues and ingenuity, ne’er-do-wells and corpses … and more incredible than any thriller.

Praise for Beyond Top Secret U

“One of the incomparable accounts of the secret war.” Times Literary Supplement

Ewen Montagu (1901-1985) was a British judge, Naval Intelligence Officer and writer from a prominent Jewish family. Following his wartime service he held the position of Judge Advocate of the Fleet for nearly thirty years. In addition to Beyond Top Secret U he notably authored The Man Who Never Was, his account of Operation Mincemeat.