About the Author

Ben Macintyre, the author of Operation Mincemeat was born in 1963. This was way after when World War II ended and when Operation Mincemeat was carried out. He is a historian and columnist writing for The Times newspaper. His columns range from current affairs to historical controversies. In July 2006, Macintyre wrote an article in The Times called "How wiki-wiki can get sticky", criticising the limitations of Wikipedia. He cited the self-regulation system as inadequate when literally "anyone" could add supposed "facts" to Wikipedia.   However, he also clearly states that while Wikipedia "should always be taken with a pinch of salt", these problems ought to disappear as more people "contribute and revise" articles, putting a positive slant on the project.

Ben Macintyre has also written other popular World War II books such as Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal,Double Cross: The True Story of the D-Day Spies, and The Napoleon of Crime: The Life and Times of Adam Worth, Master Thief.  On Goodreads, their ratings range from 3.81 stars to 3.90 stars on a 5.0 scale.

Final Blogging Assessment in English 1B

I have not been reading much over break so I am not far into the book, Yellowstone Treasures. The guide book I am reading takes me (the reader) through the trails and roads of Yellowstone National Park. Chapple describes the hot spring, Firehole to her readers by saying, "The mustard yellow, orange, and brown runoff over the side of Excelsior's crater into the Firehole is a perennial favorite of photographers" (Chappple, 64). This is an example of the vivid imagery the author provides. Janet Chapple goes through the whole park with pictures and words to describe what you may see. There is also history throughout this guide book to help you apprehend and appreciate the park more. For example Janet Chapple gives the reader more information on when to expect the geyser to erupt by saying, "Old Faithful has never recorded time erupted 'every hour on the hour' as you may have heard. Here are some figures given for average expected intervals between eruptions: 60-65 minutes in 1870, 65.5 minutes in 1964, 78 minutes in 1990, and 92 minutes, 2008." Unless you kept track of the wait time, I am sure you would have not known that the overall wait time has gradually gone up over the decades. The author contributes helpful tips that would help you enjoy the trip more. As a tourist, it just makes your travel a whole lot better, tranquil and more of an advantage over other people who may be visiting Yellowstone National Park.

Here is Firehole hot spring in Yellowstone National Park.
Notice the lava like water coming off of the hot spring.

The most important line from the chapter

A passage from chapter four of Operation Mincemeat is when the author talks about how to defeat the Axis powers, Germany specifically, "The Allied invasion of Morocco and Tunisia had fatally weakened Germany's grip...The time had come to lay siege to Hitler's Fortress.  But where?"  That answer was Sicily, Italy (Operation Husky).  The title of the chapter gives it away but the author makes you read the chapter and see how it all lays out.  Of course, Operation Mincemeat comes into play by making a decoy and setting it on the oceans east of Spain (German spies are occupying in Spain) and hopefully side tracking the Axis powers and try and get the reassuring win for the Allies.  The Allies knew there have been successful defends near Sicily by the Germans yet the area was not well protected by the Germans.  If the invasion was successful, the Allies would be able to close in on Germany and Hitler.  If it was unsuccessful, there would have been mass casualties along with a beefed up defensive line along the southern borders of German territory.

Text to Self Connection

"The invasion of North Africa, code-named 'Operation Torch', has been in preparation for months.  Major General George Patton was due to sail from Virginia on October 23 with the Western Task Force of thirty-five thousand men, heading for Casablanca in French Morocco."  I was reading this passage and Operation Torch popped into my head and I thought about history class.  I heard about it but I did not remember learning about it so I went to my binder and found it.  Operation Torch sandwiched Rommel's soldiers which was led by Dwight D. Eisenhower.  I really like how Operation Mincemeat connects to what I have learned and knew about World War II.  With my prior knowledge, I can use that to better understand the book.  That is what I did in this book.  If anyone is interested in Operation Mincemeat or WWII, I highly recommend this book to you.