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WORK TITLE: Shadow Warriors of World War II
WORK NOTES: with Gordon Thomas
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 1968
WEBSITE: https://greglewisinfo.com/
CITY:
STATE:
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY:
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Male.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer, investigative journalist, television producer, ghostwriter, and documentary filmmaker. Producer of investigative, current affairs, and historical television programs.
AWARDS:British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Cymru, Best Current Affairs Program, for “The Bullseye Killer” (ITV Wales), producer with Jon Hill and Mile Talbot; Guild of Health Writers’ Best Broadcast Programme, 2012, for “Living with Dementia” (ITV Wales), producer; Wishing Shelf Award, Non-Fiction Award, 2011, for I Fought Them All; People’s Book Awards Best Book Awards, Best Book 2014, for The Death of Justice, 2014. Recipient of awards from the the New York Festivals of International Radio Programs, and the Guild of Health Writers UK.
WRITINGS
Contributor to newspapers and periodicals, including the Times (London, England), the Observer (London, England), the Sun, Irish Independent, Private Eye, and News of the World.
Ghostwriter of books, including A Life on the Edge, with Eric Jones, and Aberfan, with Gaynor Madgwick.
SIDELIGHTS
Greg Lewis is a writer, journalist, documentary filmmaker, and television producer. He is known as a producer of films on diverse subjects in history and current affairs as well as for investigative pieces. His work has been recognized by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Cymru (Wales), the New York Festivals of International Radio Programs, and the Guild of Health Writers UK. He also has experience as a newspaper journalist and as a ghostwriter.
Shadow Warriors of World War II
In Shadow Warriors of World War II: The Daring Women of the OSS and SOE, written with Gordon Thomas, Lewis and his cowriter present a detailed “group biography of the fearless young women who became secret agents during World War II,” noted a Kirkus Reviews contributor. With material derived from primary sources such as diaries, letters, and official records, the authors explore how the female volunteers profiled in the book worked to help the allies in their war effort. Subjects include Betty Pack, who used sex as a method for obtaining information; Evangeline Bell, who made sure there were no errors or inconsistencies in forged documents or in clothing provided to French agents; and others whose knowledge of spycraft and espionage proved highly valuable.
Lewis and Thomas “make a strong case for the importance of these women to the course of war” in their “welcome addition” to the historical literature on World War II, the Kirkus Reviews writer stated. Midwest Book Review contributor Margaret Lane remarked that Shadow Warriors of World War II is “impressively informed and informative” as well as “exceptionally well written, organized and presented.” Lane stated that, in her view, the book is “strongly and unreservedly recommended as a critically important contribution” to libraries at all levels. In writing the stories of the brave women featured in the book, “Thomas and Lewis unfold their stories carefully, preserving their efforts—their successes, their near escapes, and occasionally their betrayals—with detail, resulting in a history that is both thorough and exciting,” stated Michelle Anne Schingler on the Foreword Reviews website.
Land of Hope and Dreams
In collaboration with Moira Sharkey, Lewis is also the author of Land of Hope and Dreams: Celebrating 25 Years of Bruce Springsteen in Ireland. In this book, the authors detail, in considerable depth, the relationship between musician Bruce Springsteen and the country of Ireland, its people as well as its culture. The account begins with Springsteen’s first concert in Ireland, at Slane Castle in 1985, and follows “the Boss” through his musical and cultural friendships with Ireland in the quarter-century since.
The authors even find evidence of Irish ancestry in Springsteen’s background. CLUAS website reviewer Mick Lynch observed that the book is “unique, totally original, will make you laugh and cry in places (just like Springsteen’s songs). It is a fascinating side of the story of New Jerseys’ favorite son, and the relationship he has with the Irish people, both on and off the stage.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Kirkus Reviews, October 15, 2016, review of Shadow Warriors of World War II: The Daring Women of the OSS and SOE.
Midwest Book Review, January, 2017, Margaret Lane, review of Shadow Warriors of World War II.
Reviewer’s Bookwatch, January, 2017. Margaret Lane, review of Shadow Warriors of World War II.
ONLINE
CLUAS, http://www.cluas.com/ (June 1, 2010), Mike Lynch, review of Land of Hope and Dreams: Celebrating 25 Years of Bruce Springsteen in Ireland.
Foreword Reviews, https://www.forewordreviews.com/ (January 30, 2017), Michelle Anne Schingler, review of Shadow Warriors of World War II.
Greg Lewis Website, http://www.greglewisinfo.com (July 22, 2017).*
Greg Lewis is a journalist, documentary maker, and writer. He is the recipient of awards from New York Festivals of International Radio Programs, British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Cymru and the Guild of Health Writers UK.
His most recent book, Shadow Warriors: Daring Women of the OSS and SOE (with Gordon Thomas), is published in the United States, the UK and in three European languages.
He is now working on a new WWII book for Berkley Publishing (Penguin Random House).
He worked with climber and adventurer Eric Jones on A Life On The Edge and with disaster survivor Gaynor Madgwick on Aberfan.
His interest in World War II has seen him travel extensively to interview British, American and German veterans, as well as veterans of the anti-Nazi resistance in a number of European countries.
He is represented by Don Fehr (Trident Media Group, New York).
Awards & Contacts
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BAFTA Cymru award-winning television producer of current affairs, investigative and history programmes. [Full details on ‘Television’ page]
Author of a dozen books. Most recent: Shadow Warriors: Daring Missions By Women of the OSS and SOE with Gordon Thomas.
Experienced ghost-writer. Work includes The Death of Justice, which was presented at the Hay Literary Festival; A Life on the Edge, with mountaineer and adventurer Eric Jones; and Aberfan with Gaynor Madgwick.
Awards:
Winner: BAFTA Cymru Best Current Affairs Programme ‘The Bullseye Killer’ (ITV Wales; producer with Jon Hill and Mike Talbot)
Winner: Guild of Health Writers’ Best Broadcast Programme 2012 ‘Living With Dementia’ (ITV Wales; producer)
Winner: Wishing Shelf Award Non-Fiction Award 2011 I Fought Them All (author)
Winner: The People’s Book Awards Best Book 2014 The Death of Justice (co-author)
Runner-up: Commission for Racial Equality ‘Race in the Media’ UK Award 2002
Runner-up: Amnesty International (Wales) Media Award (2002).
Background:
Investigative journalist of more than 20 years experience.
Contributed to UK national newspapers including The Times, The Observer, The Sun and the News of the World; to most of the leading newspapers in Ireland, including the Irish Independent; and to the investigative pages of Private Eye.
Contact/Representatives:
greg_lewis AT hotmail.co.uk
Represented by Jeffrey Simmons: The Death of Justice & Aberfan.
Screenplay The Snows of Japan, based on Les Spence’s POW diaries, represented by Guy Rose, of Futerman and Rose.
Shadow Warriors: Don Fehr, Trident Media Group, New York.
Gordon Thomas, Greg Lewis: SHADOW WARRIORS OF WORLD WAR II
(Oct. 15, 2016):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Gordon Thomas, Greg Lewis SHADOW WARRIORS OF WORLD WAR II Chicago Review (Adult Nonfiction) 26.99 ISBN: 978-1-61373-086-7
A group biography of the fearless young women who became secret agents during World War II.Award-winning journalists Thomas (Operation Exodus: From the Nazi Death Camps to the Promised Land: A Perilous Journey That Shaped Israel's Fate, 2010, etc.) and Lewis (A Bullet Saved My Life: The Remarkable Adventures of Bob Peters, 2006, etc.) bring their talent for telling detail and brisk pacing to an engrossing history of women who worked for the United States and Britain as spies, cryptographers, analysts, couriers, and resistance fighters during World War II. Drawing from official records, memoirs, diaries, and letters, the authors detail the recruitment, training, and daring escapades of women who infiltrated enemy lines and carried out sabotage operations, ranging from stealing documents to blowing up railroad tracks. Risking their lives repeatedly, the women proved themselves ingenious and fearless. They were also, as the authors portray them, uncommonly attractive: slim, vivacious, charming, intelligent, quick-witted, and multilingual. Among them was the irresistible Betty Pack, who took countless lovers and became known as “the spy who slept her way to obtain information”; and Evangeline Bell, “intelligent, beautiful, mysterious, and ethereal,” who had the “demanding responsibility of ensuring there were no inconsistencies in the forged documents” and articles of clothing given to French agents. Any detail could result in arrest. French clothing, for example, was sewn “with parallel threading” rather than cross-stitches, a detail for which Bell had to be alert. Spies were taught how to pick locks, reassemble documents from scraps in trash baskets, live off the land, manage a safe landing in a parachute, make a cast of a key in a bar of soap, and canvass surroundings using a shop window’s reflection. Some training centers taught forgery, microphotography, and safecracking. Not all agents were successful: some were arrested, executed, or died in concentration camps, never seeing the victory for which they worked. The authors make a strong case for the importance of these women to the course of war, offering a fresh perspective on military history. A welcome addition to WWII literature.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Gordon Thomas, Greg Lewis: SHADOW WARRIORS OF WORLD WAR II." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Oct. 2016. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA466551573&it=r&asid=d38fc1d8edee3226ea1a419a3c520650. Accessed 6 July 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A466551573
Shadow Warriors of World War II
Margaret Lane
(Jan. 2017):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 Midwest Book Review
http://www.midwestbookreview.com
Shadow Warriors of World War II
Gordon Thomas & Greg Lewis
Chicago Review Press
814 North Franklin Street, Chicago, IL 60610
www.chicagoreviewpress.com
9781613730867, $26.99, HC, 304 pp, www.amazon.com
Synopsis: Women played critically important roles in the Allied defeat of Axis forces in World War II. These women spies, combatants and saboteurs were told that the only crime they must never commit was to be caught. Women of enormous cunning and strength of will, the their stories have remained largely untold until now. "Shadow Warriors of World War II: The Daring Women of the OSS and SOE" is a compilation of dramatic tales of espionage and conspiracy in World War II and unveils the heretofore largely unacknowledged history of the courageous women who volunteered to work behind enemy lines.
Sent into Nazi-occupied Europe by the United States' Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and Britain's Special Operations Executive (SOE), these women helped establish a web of resistance groups across the continent. Their extraordinary heroism, initiative, and resourcefulness contributed to the Allied breakout of the Normandy beachheads and even infiltrated Nazi Germany at the height of the war, into the very heart of Hitler's citadel--Berlin.
Young and daring, the female agents accepted that they could be captured, tortured, or killed, but others were always readied to take their place. So effective did the female agents become in their efforts, the Germans placed a price of a million francs on the heads of operatives who were successfully disrupting their troops.
Critique: The result of an extraordinary and comprehensive research, "Shadow Warriors of World War II: The Daring Women of the OSS and SOE" is impressively informed and informative. Exceptionally well written, organized and presented, "shadow Warriors of World War II" is strongly and unreservedly recommended as a critically important contribution to community, college, and university library World War II Military History collections and supplemental studies reading lists. It should be noted for students and non-specialist general readers with interest in the subject that "Shadow Warriors of World War II" is also available in a Kindle format ($17.18). Librarians should be aware that "Shadow Warriors of World War II" is available in a complete and unabridged CD audio book edition (Blackstone Audio, 9781504683739, $29.95).
Margaret Lane
Reviewer
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Lane, Margaret. "Shadow Warriors of World War II." Reviewer's Bookwatch, Jan. 2017. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA479713749&it=r&asid=0a37c7c5da1635d4d9c293160bc0f18c. Accessed 6 July 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A479713749
Shadow Warriors of World War II
The Daring Women of the OSS and SOE
Reviewed by Michelle Anne Schingler
January 30, 2017
This is an invaluable historical account, shedding light on the heroism and bravery of the women spies who helped usher the Allied forces toward a victory.
Move over, James Bond—these real life stories of secret agents belong to the ladies. Shadow Warriors of World War II, from Gordon Thomas and Greg Lewis, is a thrilling, revelatory history of the women who contributed to the war efforts behind enemy lines as spies on behalf of Britain and America.
William Donovan, inspired by the burgeoning espionage efforts of the United Kingdom, persuaded President Roosevelt to initiate an agency on American soil, dedicated to gathering information and fighting the Nazis covertly. That organization would eventually feed into the CIA—but first, it would employ women for its actions, and to ends that defied expectations.
The stories here are ripe for film adaptation, but first require honor, as America and Britain’s first women spies are shown to have been both invaluable and at risk. Many ended up in concentration camps or at the receiving end of Nazi bullets.
Their ranks included Nancy Wake—brazen, fiery, and skilled with weapons, she was the sort to dodge bullets and retrieve packages from vehicles before they exploded. Betty Pack used her considerable appeal to extract information from men during liaisons, and Virginia Hall posed as a journalist and became one of the agents the Nazis most resented. She escaped, on one leg, over the Pyrenees. These women jumped from planes, blew their covers to help others, and accepted the dangers they faced without blinking.
Thomas and Lewis unfold their stories carefully, preserving their efforts—their successes, their near escapes, and occasionally their betrayals—with detail, resulting in a history that is both thorough and exciting. Distressing conclusions are given their space, and fallen spies are honored, with their extraordinary efforts always taking center stage. While better known personalities also make appearances—even Ian Fleming is here—they are dwarfed by these “shadow warriors” and their daring exploits.
This is an invaluable historical account, shedding light on the heroism and bravery of the women spies who helped usher the Allied forces toward a victory.
Book review: 'Land of Hope and Dreams'
Chronicling 25 Years of Bruce Springsteen in Ireland...
Land of Hope and Dreams, Greg Lewis, Moira SharkeyAlmost 25 years to the day, Bruce Springsteen played his first ever Irish Concert, at Slane Castle, and so commenced the beginning of a beautiful friendship with the Irish people, that has continued to this day.
Land of Hope And Dreams: Celebrating 25 Years of Bruce Springsteen in Ireland, chronicling his 10 tours and numerous gig appearances that have taken place here, both north and south of the border.
In the opening Chapter [Born In The USA] the book takes us back to the planning for Slane and recalls the local community objection to the concert (following the trouble at Bob Dylan the previous year).
We forget that the Heysel Stadium Soccer disaster was only three days prior to his Slane appearance on June 1st, so security and safety were a priority. One fascinating fact (of many) in the book is that Springsteen wanted that first gig to be perfect so he performed a full dress rehearsal with the E Street Band the day before. We’re also told that on the day, RTE were issued with 200 VIP Passes, and guest celebrities included Debbie Harry, Pete Townsend and Eric Clapton, but it’s the unique fan photographs from Slane that make this the standout Chapter.
Each of the 10 Chapters in the book covers one of the tours he’s performed here, along with complete setlists, ticket stubs, and newspaper reviews, but the highlights of each Chapter are the fans accounts of the gigs and their meetings with Bruce.
One of such many stories is from Mike Saunders who travelled with some friends from the UK and encountered a Garda check-point just outside Slane village where the Garda checking his ticket said “Sorry lads, these are forgeries” before continuing “only joking, enjoy the show”.
Whether it’s the story of an apprentice butcher on his busiest day [Saturday] persuading his boss to let him go and see the ‘real’ boss; meeting him in Burdocks Fish & Chips shop; or hiding in a car-park to meet him, they’re all here, told in total honesty and complete with photographic evidence.
The authors have to be complimented for their thorough research into Springsteen’s family tree in Chapter 5, revealing that Bruce’s great great grandparents Ann Garrity & Patrick Farrell most likely originated from County Westmeath, and that Patti’s grandfather was an Irish songwriter named Jerome Morris.
No stone is left unturned here. The Rising Tour, The Seeger Sessions in Belfast & Dublin, and the two nights at the R.D.S. last July [Working on a Dream] are also covered in great detail and photography, and bring this book right up to date. Even the death of Jim Aiken hit Springsteen badly, and is truly worthy of a mention here. Without Jim Aiken there would have been no Springsteen Irish legacy.
For Lewis & Sharkey there’s no doubt this was a labour of love, and music lovers (Springsteen fans or not) will love this book. It’s unique, totally original, will make you laugh and cry in places (just like Springsteen’s songs). It is a fascinating side of the story of New Jerseys’ favourite son, and the relationship he has with the Irish people, both on and off the stage. By allowing fans to tell their personal experiences in their own words, it gives the Springsteen Irish relationship that human touch.
Mick Lynch