THE SUNDAY TIMES #1 BESTSELLER

A Times Best History Book of the Year; A Waterstones Best Book of the Year

‘Reads like a thriller… I couldn’t put Max Hastings’s new book down’ - DAILY MAIL

‘Hastings is a master of drama, a writer intimately familiar with the mind of the soldier’ - THE TIMES

Operation Biting was one of the most thrilling British commando raids of World War II, and probably the most successful. In February 1942, RAF intelligence was baffled by a newly-identified radar network on the coast of Nazi-occupied Europe, codenamed Würzburg. The brilliant scientist Dr. RV Jones proposed an assault to capture key components. The nearest accessible enemy position was on a steep cliff at Bruneval in Normandy. Winston Churchill was enthusiastic, as was Lord Louis Mountbatten, chief of Combined Operations.

A company of the newly-formed Airborne Forces was assigned to the operation, which took place on the night of February 27/28. Amid heavy snow, 120 men landed, some of whom were misdropped almost two miles from their target. Nevertheless, they launched the assault, dismantled the German radar, and after three tense hours in France and a fierce battle with Wehrmacht defenders, escaped just in time by landing craft across stormy seas to Portsmouth.

Max Hastings recounts this gripping story in a wealth of previously unreported detail. He portrays its remarkable personalities: the 'boffin' RV Jones; the proud Mountbatten; the troubled husband of Daphne du Maurier, Gen. 'Boy' Browning, who commanded the Airborne Division; ‘Colonel Remy,’ the French secret agent whose men reconnoitered Bruneval at great risk; Major John Frost, who led the paras into action; Charlie Cox, the young RAF technician who dismantled Würzburg and became an unexpected hero; Wing-Commander Charles Pickard, a legendary bomber pilot who led the drop squadron. Rarely have so many fascinating personalities been brought together for a mission that became a front-page triumph in a season of British setbacks.

Recounted in Hastings’ familiar best-selling style, blending detailed top-down and bottom-up action, Operation Biting tells a story that has almost been forgotten but truly deserves to be remembered among the epic tales of courage and daring that occurred during the greatest conflict in history.

Pages: 384, Dimensions: 12.9x12.9cm