BELIEVABLE LIES
The Misfits Who Fought Churchill's Secret Propaganda War by Terry Stiastny
A new approach to WW2 history, this is the untold true story of the secret British organisation briefed to wage psychological warfare to beat the Nazis and a fascinating exploration of ‘fake news’ and morality in wartime.
At the beginning of the Second World War, a team of unlikely and ill-assorted characters assembled in their secret country headquarters. They had left their civilian roles as politicians, journalists, novelists and spies, advertisers, artists and even forgers, to work for a covert government organisation preparing to broadcast British propaganda into occupied territory. These men and women would become the Political Warfare Executive. (Think Slow Horses but set in 1939…)
Many of them were misfits with a questionable relationship to the truth, who were prepared to consider unconventional methods to achieve their goals: weakening enemy morale and sowing confusion, as well as encouraging resistance. In the ‘hush-hush’ village of Aspley Guise near Woburn Abbey (just 8 miles from the now famous codebreakers at Bletchley Park), they set up a series of undercover radio stations which would broadcast fake shows to Europe.
With brand new information revealed via Freedom of Information requests, this book will uncover how the once top secret wartime efforts of the PWE - from pornographic leaflet drops to rumour campaigns, underground publications and fake French and German radio shows - contributed to the frontline of psychological warfare to break Nazi morale.
Believable Lies explores the ethics of propaganda for a cause and how ‘fake news’ has always been deployed in politics. Through a compelling cast of characters, Terry challenges traditional hero/villain wartime narratives and paints a more nuanced picture, also encouraging us to scrutinise the state decision-making we see today.
Join us for what promises to be a fascinating evening - the cost of the tickets includes £5 off any copies of Believable Lies bought on the night.
About the author:
Terry Stiastny is an author, journalist and broadcaster on national and international radio. She reports on British politics for Times Radio and is a frequent commentator on Monocle Radio. Her debut non-fiction book, Believable Lies, combines her interests in politics, international history and journalism. She has previously published two political thrillers: Acts of Omission and Conflicts of Interest (John Murray). Acts of Omission won Political Fiction Book of the Year at the Political Book Awards in 2015. Before that, Terry was a correspondent at the BBC, where she worked on radio and television, based in Westminster, Brussels and Berlin, and reporting from many other countries. She was educated at Oxford University, earning an M.Phil in International Relations. She lives in London.
