This was one of the most fascinating book I have ever read on World War II. You hear bits and pieces of the things done during the war that were out of the realm of "traditional" warfare. But this book helped understand the background for these activities.

This is an extremely detailed organizational history of a rather obscure office in the British government that set the foundation for the more famous special operations organizations that were employed in World War Two, I wish this was more of an operational history, but instead it focuses almost exclusively on the organization evolution of these early offices.

Author Malcolm Atkin (https://www.mwatkin.com) will publish the book “Pioneers of Irregular Warfare: Secrets of the Military Intelligence Research Department of the Second World War” on May 12, 2021. Mr. Atkin has published eight history books.

I categorize this book as ‘G’. The book looks at the British development of irregular warfare during early WWII. It starts before the war was declared and runs through the disbanding of MI(R) in October of 1940.

The book covers Lt. Colonel Jo Holland and the evolution of British Military Intelligence Research - MI(R). The book also talks about Holland’s deputy, Colin Gubbins. The MI(R) and SIS Section D were sometimes at odds with one another, but mostly they cooperated. The military establishment did not approve or support MI(R). They advocated new, untried, and ungentlemanly methods of warfare.

MI(R) focused on developing procedures for guerrilla warfare and then teaching them. They were also responsible for developing some of the cleaver weapons used. Sometimes these were supplied to resistance units. Other times commandos, the SIS, and even the regular army used them. Their concept of Independent Companies evolved into the Commandos. While mostly a think tank, MI(R) did organize and lead a few missions. The book tells of missions to Europe, Africa, Asia, and China.

I enjoyed the 11.5 hours I spent reading this 272-page WWII history. I did find it a bit challenging to read. Most of it was dry and very academic. I did learn a few new things about the early years of the war. The British worked hard to develop new fighting techniques. They had to overcome opposition within the military establishment. The personalities involved were also a challenge. I do like the selected cover art. I give this book a 3.6 (rounded up to a 4) out of 5.

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I have always loved movies and books about spy craft and irregular warfare. Even though there are a lot of abbreviations and sometimes it was hard for me to follow, I found this book had a wealth of information. Sometimes it seemed almost too cerebral but I worked my way through. This is not a quick read, no Wikipedia pages, but a fascinating look at covert warfare history. Even though I am a woman I thoroughly enjoyed and recommend this book. I was kindly granted my wish to read this book. Thank you! I received an e-book from NetGalley in return for an unbiased review.