Publishers Weekly
03/22/2021
Garrett (Young Lions), a professor of Jewish studies at Hunter College, recounts in this dramatic and deeply researched history the WWII exploits of X Troop, a British commando unit made up of Jewish refugees from Austria, Germany, and Hungary. Garrett details the commandos’ various backgrounds (Olympic athlete, diplomat’s son); describes how they escaped Europe only to be detained as “enemy aliens” in the U.K.; and explains how the British military’s need for German-language speakers to interrogate prisoners and undertake reconnaissance missions led to the creation of X Troop. Trained in “advanced fighting techniques and counterintelligence,” the commandos were given British names and identity papers to protect them in case of capture and first saw action in the August 1942 raid on Dieppe in northern France. During the D-Day landings, X Troopers helped to take Pegasus Bridge and other strongpoints. One commando, “who was determined to capture and kill as many Nazis as possible,” drove 400 miles to liberate his parents from the Theresienstadt concentration camp. Garrett folds vivid profiles of Lord Mountbatten, Lord Lovat, and other prominent military figures into the story, and skillfully draws from war diaries and interviews with surviving X Troopers. This scrupulous history shines a well-deserved spotlight on its heroic subjects. (May)
From the Publisher
"Based on declassified military records, wartime diaries, and interviews with commandos and their families, X Troop vividly charts the special unit's missions, from storming Pegasus Bridge on D-Day to successfully liberating a trooper's parents' from the Theresienstadt concentration camp to capturing escaped Nazis after the war." — Smithsonian
"Gripping . . . relight[s] the lamps of the past so that they glow anew." — Times of London
"An invaluable study . . . Garrett must be congratulated for pulling all these stories together by bringing praiseworthy attention to these young Jewish resisters of Nazism who became among the most noble and courageous of liberators during World War II... their service is no longer a secret and deserves widespread recognition, thanks to this beautifully constructed book." — James Kirby Martin, The New York Journal of Books
"A thrilling, stirring story, well told." — Daily Telegraph (London)
"Reading Garrett's fluent and engaging account should make anyone tempted to feel jingoistic about Britain during the Second World War think twice." — Richard Overy, Literary Review
"The page-turning account is replete with heretofore unknown astounding feats thanks to the author's success in declassifying long-sealed, top-secret British military records . . . Garrett's excellent new book corrects the record by fully recounting the X Troopers' exploits and accurately reflecting who they were." — The Times of Israel
“Garrett has a keen, cinematic eye for the human moment that speaks a much larger truth. And she’s an exceptional writer with a rare gift—no doubt helped by her immersion in classic American accounts of war—for conveying the fear and adrenaline-fueled anarchy of combat. Her account of the D-Day landing, seen through the eyes of her protagonists, is vivid and starkly unsentimental. . . . It is sometimes hard to look, but Garrett draws us in, and X Troop’s 368 pages move very quickly indeed.” — Jewish Review of Books
"Inspirational . . . Garrett is to be commended for bringing to life this little-known tale of extraordinary wartime heroism by this group of Jewish refugees in the service of Britain." — History of War
"Extraordinary." — Jewish Chronicle
“Leah Garrett's X Troop is brilliantly researched, utterly gripping history: the first full account of a remarkable group of Jewish refugees—a top-secret band of brothers—who waged war on Hitler.” — Alex Kershaw, New York Times best-selling author of The Longest Winter, The Bedford Boys, and The Liberator
“Drawing from recently declassified British intelligence records and personal archives of former X Troopers, Garrett’s detective work is stunning, and her storytelling is masterful. This is an original account of Jewish rescue, resistance, and revenge from within the Reich and at its edges, starting with the boys’ flight to England and ending with their brave return.” — Wendy Lower, author of The Ravine and National Book Award finalist Hitler’s Furies
“A lively, expertly researched history of an obscure WWII unit whose heroism deserves recognition.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Garrett folds vivid profiles of . . . prominent military figures into the story, and skillfully draws from war diaries and interviews with surviving X Troopers. This scrupulous history shines a well-deserved spotlight on its heroic subjects.” — Publishers Weekly
“This tale of profoundly motivated and capable men of action on a noble mission, each profiled in condensed biographies, is a rousing and redefining portrait of an, until now, overlooked group of dedicated warriors who played an outsized role in defeating the Third Reich. Garrett has added a crucial chapter to the always relevant and ever-deepening history of WWII and the Holocaust.” — Booklist
"Those looking to learn about Jewish heroes will rejoice to discover the outstanding and heroic efforts of these men." — The Reporter
"A compelling read . . . Garrett's evocation of the tension and drama of the many clandestine operations in Europe undertaken by X-Troopers is gripping." — Sydney Morning Herald
"Thrilling . . . X Troop stands as a fitting testament to a unique band of brothers" — Nation Cymru
“This is the best kind of history: highly original, deeply researched, beautifully written, with more than a touch of personal pathos. The men of X Troop went from stateless refugees of Nazi oppression to highly trained British special operations soldiers whose courageous actions did much to hasten Hitler's demise. Kudos to Leah Garrett for telling their amazing story with the authority of a scholar and the immediacy of a novelist.” — John C. McManus, Ph.D., author of Fire and Fortitude: The U.S. Army in the Pacific War, 1941-1943
“Part history and part mystery, X Troop tells a compelling and little-known story about an improbable group of ‘British’ soldiers who made an important contribution to the war effort.” — Deborah E. Lipstadt, author of the National Jewish Book Award–winning Antisemitism Here and Now
“Stunning—a book about 87 Jewish commandos, an unlikely band of brothers, who together played a decisive role in defeating the hated Nazis . . . Garrett is fiercely passionate about X Troop and telling their story is for her clearly, intensely personal. . . . Thank you, Leah Garrett, for bringing us this incredible moving story of Jewish heroism.” — The Jerusalem Report
“A masterful work. Combining the skill of a superb storyteller and the precision of a first-rate scholar, X Troop tells a tale—truly stranger than fiction—of Jewish youth dispatched to the safety of England who volunteered for some of the most perilous of all anti-Nazi missions. An extraordinary portrait of heroism, of human decency amid horror.” — Steven J. Zipperstein, author of Pogrom: Kishinev and the Tilt of History
“Impeccable research gives the bravest of the brave the limelight they deserve.” — Ian Dear, author of Ten Commando
“X Troop reads like a page-turning thriller. In Garrett’s brilliant, cinematic telling, based on original interviews and deep-dive archival research, these young European Jewish emigres’ return to the continent as elite Allied super-commandos is both heart-stopping and heart-breaking.” — James Young, author of The Stages of Memory
Jewish Review of Books
Garrett has a keen, cinematic eye for the human moment that speaks a much larger truth. And she’s an exceptional writer with a rare gift—no doubt helped by her immersion in classic American accounts of war—for conveying the fear and adrenaline-fueled anarchy of combat. Her account of the D-Day landing, seen through the eyes of her protagonists, is vivid and starkly unsentimental. . . . It is sometimes hard to look, but Garrett draws us in, and X Troop’s 368 pages move very quickly indeed.”
Alex Kershaw
Leah Garrett's X Troop is brilliantly researched, utterly gripping history: the first full account of a remarkable group of Jewish refugees—a top-secret band of brothers—who waged war on Hitler.”
Daily Telegraph (London)
"A thrilling, stirring story, well told."
Smithsonian
"Based on declassified military records, wartime diaries, and interviews with commandos and their families, X Troop vividly charts the special unit's missions, from storming Pegasus Bridge on D-Day to successfully liberating a trooper's parents' from the Theresienstadt concentration camp to capturing escaped Nazis after the war."
Jewish Chronicle
"Extraordinary."
James Kirby Martin
"An invaluable study . . . Garrett must be congratulated for pulling all these stories together by bringing praiseworthy attention to these young Jewish resisters of Nazism who became among the most noble and courageous of liberators during World War II... their service is no longer a secret and deserves widespread recognition, thanks to this beautifully constructed book."
Times of London
"Gripping . . . relight[s] the lamps of the past so that they glow anew."
History of War
"Inspirational . . . Garrett is to be commended for bringing to life this little-known tale of extraordinary wartime heroism by this group of Jewish refugees in the service of Britain."
The Times of Israel
"The page-turning account is replete with heretofore unknown astounding feats thanks to the author's success in declassifying long-sealed, top-secret British military records . . . Garrett's excellent new book corrects the record by fully recounting the X Troopers' exploits and accurately reflecting who they were."
Richard Overy
"Reading Garrett's fluent and engaging account should make anyone tempted to feel jingoistic about Britain during the Second World War think twice."
Library Journal
04/02/2021
During World War II, the British forces formed a highly trained commando unit made up primarily of Jewish refugees from Germany, Austria, and Hungary who had fled Nazi persecution. At the outbreak of the war, many of these refugees were imprisoned as enemy aliens in squalid camps in England, Canada, and Australia. Anxious to strike back at their Nazi persecutors, some of the refugees jumped at the chance to join the elite and highly specialized commando unit, which was called X Troop. Its men were selected for their motivation, intelligence, language skills, and physical fitness. Using recently declassified documents, interviews, and wartime reports, Garret (Jewish studies, Hunter Coll.; Young Lions) vividly describes the commandos' courage and bravery under fire by the. X Troop served in the Balkans, Italy, and Germany, and in the D-Day invasion. After Germany's surrender, some X Troop commandos worked for Allied occupation governments, tracked down war criminals, or translated and researched documents for war crimes trials. Garret's tale of a little-known unit shows that there are still many stories about the war yet to be uncovered. VERDICT Readers interested in World War II tales of bravery and heroism or Jewish studies will enjoy this.—Chad E. Statler, Westlake Porter P.L., Westlake, OH
Kirkus Reviews
2021-02-25
The story of a commando unit “determined to wreak havoc on Hitler’s regime.”
The history of World War II teems with elite special forces that stepped on each other’s toes during imaginative missions, few of which went as planned, and their exploits continue to fascinate publishers and readers. Working with newly declassified documents, “breathless heat-of-the-battle official war diaries,” and other sources, Hunter College professor Garrett revives a subunit within these specialized units that consisted mostly of European Jews. Ironically, they had fled the Nazis to Britain but were arrested as “enemy aliens” and interned under terrible conditions after war broke out in September 1939. Some were permitted to join the Pioneer Corps, which performed manual labor, but it was only in December 1941 that internees were able to sign on to combat units. Garrett’s subjects formed part of a special commando force, formed in July 1942, comprised of displaced nationals carrying out different missions depending on their native language. The author focuses on a unit filled with German-speaking refugees called X Troop. “The men’s fluency in German,” she writes, “would enable them to get essential intelligence that would guide the next moment’s choices rather than having to wait to interview prisoners until they were back at headquarters.” Garrett describes the prewar lives of a dozen young men, their escape to Britain, the miseries of their internment, the brutal months of training, and their subsequent operations, which carried on well past the German surrender, when they tracked down and interrogated Nazi war criminals. Hollywood-style sabotage missions were rare; mostly, the troop accompanied conventional units “killing and capturing Germans, gathering crucial intelligence, and taking on leadership roles. They were trusted and respected, and they were highly sought after for especially hazardous undertakings.” The author compassionately chronicles the casualties, and the traditional epilogue describes survivors who mostly led prosperous lives.
A lively, expertly researched history of an obscure WWII unit whose heroism deserves recognition.
