This text provides an insider account of the counter-intelligence operation (Operation Mincemeat) which paved the way for the Allied invasion of Sicily during World War II. It outlines the audacious and innovative plot to outwit the Germans by washing up a dead body on Spanish shores complete with apparently confidential information concealed about its person. Surprising and often amusing difficulties were faced in creating a new life and persona for "the man who never was", but as the new introduction to the book shows, the operation was a phenomenal success.