• 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
  • 3.7 out of 5 stars (511 ratings)

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The Irregulars  By  cover art

The Irregulars

By: Jennet Conant
Narrated by: Simon Prebble
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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.
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

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)

What listeners say about The Irregulars

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Spying in Washington

I have to admit that I had high hopes and expected more from this book. Parts were interesting but a good bit of it lagged, dragged and droned on too long. Heavy on the gossip and light on the facts for my taste. Roald Dahl was a busy man--what with cook books, all his children's books and spying to boot. Sorry to say that I just can't recommend this book.

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25 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Surprising

I downloaded this book on a whim. It was on sale and I've been listening to lots of WWII history and wanted something a bit different. In addition, I've read a lot of Dahl and own most of his children's books. The material is engrossing and the narrator is quite good. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because there is a middle section of the book where the story necessarily goes away from Dahl only to come back to him later that is somewhat confusing in audiobook format. The names and dates can come fast and furious and be a little overwhelming at times. In the end, however, it was a fascinating story and is told well by both author and reader.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Witty,entertaining, real spies

This piece definitely gave me the most intimate and realistic feel for WWII espionage. Far from the Hollywood version, but a believable and honest vision of Britain's desparate efforts for American support in their fight against Hitler.

The narration is superb. One of the best I have heard since listening to "Portrait of a Lady". Simon Pebble is brilliant in conveying that wonderful caustic but satirical sense of humour that so British. A great listen.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

interesting

I learned a lot about about activities connected with WWII -- British spys in the Americas, Vice President Wallace, and Washington DC society. I had no idea that children's book writer Dahl had been a British spy in the US! It was definitely worth reading. But, the book was not linear and would jump back and forth. I prefer my non-fiction to be chronological.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Fascinating stuff

This is a remarkable book. The reading is "transparent", I didn't notice anything wrong at all. The book is fascinating, If you know WWII era history fairly well, you'll find all sort of people you perhaps didn't expect, for example Lyndon Johnson and Ian Flemming. I didn't even know how well I knew the works of Roald Dahl, in particular. I've listened to it a couple of times, and enjoyed it on the second listening.

My main complaint is that not enough of the darker "undercover" aspect of the history is revealed. Perhaps later more information will be revealed.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Fascinating, complicated

As the child of a former OSS officer and CIA officer, I found this glimpse into British covert operations in the war-time US fascinating. There are so many threads to this story that it can be easy to lose track of who's who, however. I really enjoyed the portrait of Texas newspaper magnate, Charles Marsh, an intensely interesting character who should have his own biography. He plays a larger role in Dahl's life than many of the other names you will see in reviews (ex: Ian Fleming,Claire Booth Luce, etc.). The "what happened next" section is somewhat truncated, as it should be. I suspect that for Dahl and the others involved in the BSC, it was difficult to create a second act for their lives.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

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.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Unique Aspect of the War at Home

This is a concise telling of a rather unknown entity that operated in the US beginning in the early years of the war. Many little interesting tidbits of history. A little too much focus on Wallace, FDR's vice president and not enough on the daily workings of the unit. The author covers a lot of territory and you are left wanting more depth in some areas. Fun and easy listen and a new perspective on Britin, our "friend"

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Thoroughly Enjoyable!

This book was engrossing, educational and entertaining. I learned so much about the relations between Britain and the US during WWII, the inner workings of the White House, and the fascinating persona of Roald Dahl. He was an intriguing, mulit-dimensional person who lived a storybook life as he was writing his own fiction. The references to Ian Flemming and LBJ were interesting as well.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Not exactly a spy story

From the description I expected this to be a spy story, and while there was a good bit of cloak and dagger stuff, it's really more about American politics and high society shenanigans from about 1940 to 1945. Though I have little interest in political history I stuck with this book and was glad I did.

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3 people found this helpful