The Irregulars

Roald Dahl and the British Spy Ring in Wartime Washington

By: Jennet Conant

Narrated by: Simon Prebble

Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

Prior to the U.S. entering WWII, a small coterie of British spies in Washington, D.C., was formed. They called themselves the Baker Street Irregulars after the band of street urchins who were the eyes and ears of Sherlock Holmes in some Arthur Conan Doyle stories. This group constituted the very beginning of what would become M16, the British version of the CIA, and they helped support the fledgling American intelligence service, known at the time as the OSS.

Among them were writers Roald Dahl, Ian Fleming, and the flamboyant Canadian industrialist turned professional saboteur William Stephenson, known by the code name "Intrepid", upon whom Fleming would later base his fictional M16 agent James Bond. Richly detailed and carefully researched, Conant's narrative uses never-before-seen wartime letters, diaries and interviews to create a fascinating, lively account of deceit, double dealing and moral ambiguity - all in the name of victory.

©2008 Jennet Conant (P)2008 HighBridge Company.

Critic reviews

"A thoroughly engrossing story, one Conant tells exceptionally well." ( Publishers Weekly)
"Reads like a classic spy novel....With this excellent history of personalities and politics during World War II, Conant adds successfully to her previous books that have made vivid the war's background players. Highly recommended." ( Library Journal)
"Simon Prebble, fastidiously pukka in his accent, has a fine 'top-secret' voice, shaded with condescension and understatedly urgent. Coming from him, the expression 'rumor mill' sounds especially insidious, and the deeds he describes - 'eavesdropping and peering over people's shoulders,' forgery, political subversion and general backstabbing - seem wonderfully dastardly." ( Washington Post Book World)

Startling/RIveting

Couldn't stop listening to this fascinating true-life tale of espionage by the British in the United States--politics, Hollywood, James Bondian goings on--amazing. I learned so much from this book, but it was non-stop thrills all the way. Bought the print version as well and will read it a second time. Reader, by the way, was perfect for the content.

Not the book promised

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Include information on some of the exciting adventures mentioned in blurb. Not reflected in the book.

Would you ever listen to anything by Jennet Conant again?

Probably not

Which scene was your favorite?

None really.

Did The Irregulars inspire you to do anything?

Try to find a better book on the subject.

Any additional comments?

Very disappointed. Was looking forward to hearing this book.

An adequate biography

WW2-era politics is not exactly what I came looking for, but this bio does paint clear picture of Washington DC in wartime.

Interesting anecdotes, not enough story

There's very little narrative about the British spy ring and their actual spying activities and lots of gossipy anecdotes about wartime Washington. It doesn't really deliver on the premise.

history with information you won't find elsewhere

A house guest of a Texas Publisher/ power broker named Marsh, a direct line to FDR and Elanor through a house guest named Princes Sophie and courting a congress woman by the name of Claire B Luce. A conduit to Churchill and insider on the delicate balance of post war aviation. You would think the character is fictional. Instead he is a writer of great children's fictional literature who is 6'6", educated in England with a Norwegian mother and four older sisters. This is a great read the first time and even better the second time with Simon Prebble as narrator. Prebble does many of the Dick Frances Mysteries and is well suited to this complex mystery of a man.

Pretty good read

I love Simon Prebble and the whole premise for the book was great. It would've been nice to have more exploits and not so much society coverage but overall it was a lot of fun to listen to. And I learned a lot.

Great historical biography

Very well written and well researched book.
A fascinating look at the period and all the players.

It was Informative

When I downloaded the book, I thought it would be more about the exploits of William Stevenson and Dahl. It was more a biopic of Dahl’s life. I learned a few things and it was worth a listen, but it was not the spy epic I was expecting.

Fascinating but Needs Focus - Would Benefit From a Rewrite

As a fan a Dahl, and also of the history of modern intelligence, I was fascinated by this Engaging and well-told background stories tie together (too loosely, perhaps) Dahl’s life and that of Britain’s espionage organization. Also very well narrated. But I can’t help wishing it was packaged differently: my suggestion would be to bring it to life more- maybe use different readers to use Dahl’s voice more when reading quotes from his letters- maybe other voices for other key figures like Marsh / Wallace / the Roosevelts etc. ?
Great overall.

A Disappointment

I was expecting a book with some strategic context and insights into an interesting group of people who played an important, if little understood, role in the war effort. What it is instead is largely a collection of gossipy items with stereotyped character descriptions of the main "characters." I use "characters" loosely, because there is no coherent plot or theme to the book. I gave it up a bit over half way through.