Description

‘A thrilling, stirring story, well told’ Daily Telegraph

‘Gripping… Garrett’s chief strength is her ability to relight the lamps of the past so that they glow anew’ The Times

‘Extraordinary’ Jewish Chronicle

THE THRILLING TRUE STORY OF THE SECRET JEWISH COMMANDOS WHO HELPED DEFEAT THE NAZIS DURING WW2

June 1942. The shadow of the Third Reich has fallen across the entire European continent. In desperation, Winston Churchill and his chief of staff form an unusual plan: a new commando unit made up of Jewish refugees from Germany and Austria who escaped to Britain just before the War. Many have lost their families, their homes – their whole worlds. And now, in the crucial final battles against the Nazis, they will stop at nothing to defeat them. Trained in counterintelligence and advanced combat, this top secret unit becomes known as X Troop. Some simply call them a suicide squad.

Drawing on extensive original research, including interviews with the last surviving members, Leah Garrett follows this unique band of brothers from Europe to England and back again, with stops at British internment camps, the beaches of Normandy, the battlefields of Italy and Holland, and the hellscape of Terezin concentration camp – the scene of one of the most dramatic, untold rescues of the war. For the first time, X Troop tells the astonishing story of these secret shock troops and their devastating blows against the Nazis.

Publisher Review

This is Inglorious Basterds-but much better. Because it is the real story of clandestine Jewish fighters wreaking havoc against the Nazi war machine. -- Norman Ohler, New York Times best-selling author of Blitzed and The Bohemians Leah Garrett's X Troop is brilliantly researched, utterly gripping history: the first full account of a remarkable group of Jewish refugees-a top-secret band of brothers-who waged war on Hitler. -- Alex Kershaw, New York Times best-selling author of The Longest Winter, The Bedford Boys, and The Liberator Part history and part mystery, X-Troop: The Secret Jewish Commandos of World War II tells a compelling and little known story about an improbable group of "British" soldiers who made an important contribution to the war effort. Their transformation from interned "enemy aliens" to soldiers with high security clearances is fascinating. -- Deborah E. Lipstadt, author of Antisemitism Here and Now Drawing from recently declassified British intelligence records and personal archives of former X Troopers, Garrett's detective work is stunning, and her story-telling is masterful. This is an original account of Jewish rescue, resistance and revenge from within the Reich and at its edges, starting with the boys flight to England and ending with their brave return as they spearheaded the Allied invasion at Normandy, fought to defeat the Reich, and remained in British service to denazify Germany and Austria. -- Wendy Lower, author of Hitler's Furies: German Women in the Killing Fields A masterful work. Combining the skill of a superb storyteller and the precision of a first-rate scholar, Leah Garrett's new book tells a tale -- truly stranger than fiction -- of Jewish youth dispatched to the safety of England by their beleaguered German-Jewish families who volunteered for some of the most perilous of all anti-Nazi missions. An extraordinary portrait of heroism, of human decency amid horror. -- Steven J. Zipperstein, author of Pogrom: Kishinev and the Tilt of History This is the best kind of history: highly original, deeply researched, beautifully written, with more than a touch of personal pathos. The men of X Troop went from stateless refugees of Nazi oppression to highly trained British special operations soldiers whose courageous actions did much to hasten Hitler's demise. Kudos to Leah Garrett for telling their amazing story with the authority of a scholar and the immediacy of a novelist! -- John C. McManus, author of Fire and Fortitude: The U.S. Army in the Pacific War, 1941-1943 Garrett recounts in this dramatic and deeply researched history the WWII exploits of X Troop, a British commando unit made up of Jewish refugees from Austria, Germany, and Hungary...Garrett folds vivid profiles of Lord Mountbatten, Lord Lovat, and other prominent military figures into the story, and skillfully draws from war diaries and interviews with surviving X Troopers. This scrupulous history shines a well-deserved spotlight on its heroic subjects. * Publishers Weekly * A lively, expertly researched history of an obscure WWII unit whose heroism deserves recognition. * Kirkus Review * Impeccable research gives the bravest of the brave the limelight they deserve. -- Ian Dear, author of Ten Commando X Troop reads like a page-turning thriller. Cinematic in their scope and rich description, these are the heretofore unknown stories of young European Jewish emigres clawing their way out of Nazi-occupied Europe and finding refuge in the UK, only to be interned as enemy aliens in horrific camps in Canada and Australia, before being recruited by Churchill and Lord Mountbatten for their brains, brawn, languages, and anti-Nazi zeal. In Garrett's brilliant telling, based on original interviews and deep-dive archival research, their return to the continent as elite Allied super-commandos is both heart-stopping and heart-breaking. -- James Young, Founding Director Institute for Holocaust, Genocide and Memory Studies and author of The Stages of Memory This dramatic, previously untold story of extraordinary covert valor and victory takes readers all across the European front, culminating in the shock of the Terezin concentration camp. This tale of profoundly motivated and capable men of action on a noble mission, each profiled in condensed biographies, is a rousing and redefining portrait of an, until now, overlooked group of dedicated warriors who played an outsized role in defeating the Third Reich. Garrett has added a crucial chapter to the always relevant and ever-deepening history of WWII and the Holocaust * Booklist * This is Inglorious Basterds -- but much better. Because it is the real story of clandestine Jewish fighters wreaking havoc against the Nazi war machine -- Norman Ohler, author of Blitzed Leah Garrett's X Troop is brilliantly researched, utterly gripping history: the first full account of a remarkable group of Jewish refugees -- a top-secret band of brothers -- who waged war on Hitler -- Alex Kershaw, New York Times best-selling author of The Longest Winter, The Bedford Boys, and The Liberator This is the best kind of history: highly original, deeply researched, beautifully written, with more than a touch of personal pathos. The men of X Troop went from stateless refugees of Nazi oppression to highly trained British special operations soldiers whose courageous actions did much to hasten Hitler's demise. Kudos to Leah Garrett for telling their amazing story with the authority of a scholar and the immediacy of a novelist! -- John C. McManus, author of Fire and Fortitude Impeccable research gives the bravest of the brave the limelight they deserve -- Ian Dear, author of Ten Commando Drawing from recently declassified British intelligence records and personal archives of former X Troopers, Garrett's detective work is stunning, and her storytelling is masterful. This is an original account of Jewish rescue, resistance and revenge from within the Reich -- Wendy Lower X Troop reads like a page-turning thriller. Cinematic in their scope and rich description, these are the heretofore unknown stories of young European Jewish emigres clawing their way out of Nazi-occupied Europe and finding refuge in the UK, only to be interned as enemy aliens in horrific camps in Canada and Australia, before being recruited by Churchill and Lord Mountbatten for their brains, brawn, languages, and anti-Nazi zeal. In Garrett's brilliant telling, based on original interviews and deep-dive archival research, their return to the continent as elite Allied super-commandos is both heart-stopping and heart-breaking -- James Young, Founding Director Institute for Holocaust, Genocide and Memory Studies and author of The Textures of Memory: Holocaust Memorials and Meaning A masterful work. Combining the skill of a superb storyteller and the precision of a first-rate scholar, Leah Garrett's new book tells a tale -- truly stranger than fiction -- of Jewish youth dispatched to the safety of England by their beleaguered German-Jewish families who volunteered for some of the most perilous of all anti-Nazi missions. An extraordinary portrait of heroism, of human decency amid horror -- Steven J. Zipperstein, author of Pogrom: Kishinev and the Tilt of History Part history and part mystery, X Troop tells a compelling and little known story about an improbable group of "British" soldiers who made an important contribution to the war effort. Their transformation from interned "enemy aliens" to soldiers with high security clearances is fascinating -- Deborah E. Lipstadt, author of Antisemitism Here and Now