The Army That Never Was: D-Day and the Great Deception tells the remarkable story of the deceptions, hoaxes and misdirections carried out by the Allies ahead of the most pivotal moment of the Second World War - the D-Day invasion.


The most audacious of these schemes aimed to convince German forces that plans to storm Normandy were a mere sideshow, and featured a fictitious army led by General Patton and furnished with hundreds of real-world dummy landing craft, tanks and aircraft. New research reveals a hidden link with Britain's film industry, as the fascinating behind-the-scenes story of this dramatic gambit is explored in detail.


Full of fascinating characters from the US, Britain and Germany, this compelling and propulsive narrative explores one of the most remarkable secret campaigns of the Second World War.

"Taylor Downing's books are more gripping than any thriller" - Dominic Sandbrook

"Downing has established a name for himself as the author of pacy, crisply researched works of narrative non-fiction ... This is a story filled with tales of deceptions, hoaxes and misdirections." - Unseen Histories