A true story of World War II that reveals how British and American military intelligence successfully smuggled escape aids into German P.O.W. camps hidden inside Monopoly game boards, and also the game’s surprising role in espionage.
Orbanes is not always careful about providing dates ... Orbanes’s book is chockablock with heroes and heroines ... Gripping ... The book’s most appealing hero is Airey Neave, an Oxford grad who pulled off a thrilling, Monopoly X-aided escape from Germany’s Colditz Castle ... Orbanes makes a good case for his verdict.
Monopoly X deftly recounts the daring exploits of the men and women who waged a covert battle for the Allies during WWII. Author Orbanes brilliantly sheds light on a once-hidden but crucial operation while introducing a compelling cast of real-life characters who risked everything in a cause greater than themselves.
Thrilling ... With cinematic flair, Orbanes narrates the clandestine meetings between spies that led to the false game sets’ development and later adoption by the U.S., along the way touching on many fascinating historical tangents ... Throughout, Orbanes intriguingly surfaces other ways in which games, especially Monopoly, were used for Allied spycraft ... While some of the stylishly written scenes are clearly speculative, it’s all so gripping that readers won’t mind suspending a bit of disbelief.
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