Top Secret Files: World War II: Spies, Secret Mis­sions, and Hid­den Facts from World War II (Top Secret Files of His­tory) by Stephanie Bearce is a non-fiction book aimed at ele­men­tary and mid­dle school children.

Top Secret Files: World War II: Spies, Secret Mis­sions, and Hid­den Facts from World War II (Top Secret Files of His­tory) by Stephanie Bearce is part of a new series focus­ing on quick sto­ries and sim­ple facts of major wars. This is exactly the kind of book I loved to read in ele­men­tary school, quick facts, fas­ci­nat­ing sto­ries and a few exper­i­ments to boot.

This book focuses on World War II and its secrets, such as Camp X, the Code Talk­ers, spe­cial weapons and such per­sons as Christo­pher Hut­ton, Noor Inayat, Moe Berg and Josephine Baker (yes, THAT Josephine Baker). At the end of each chap­ter there are some basic activ­i­ties to do (I didn’t do them, but they looked interesting).

While I was not the aimed age group for this book, I did enjoy it. It’s a quick read (read it in a day), excit­ing sto­ries and inter­est­ing projects / exper­i­ments. It is an excel­lent intro­duc­tion to World War II with­out intro­duc­ing too much of the hor­rors that have happened.

This is an entry in a new series focusing on, well, "Spies, secret missions, and hidden facts" in major wars. Other titles include World War I, the Civil War, and the American Revolution.

The chapters are "Secrets" which talks about training for various groups of spies, Churchill's Secret Army, Camp X, etc. "Spies" focuses on specific spies, with a pretty decent variety. Included are Nancy Wake, Christopher Hutton, Noor Inayat Khan, Moe Berg and Joan Pujol Garcia (a man, in case you didn't know) and Josephine Baker. "Special Missions" talks about specific sabotage and undercover missions like "Operation Dynamo" and "Camouflage California". "Secret Weapons" includes both successful and unsuccessful weapons from both the Axis and the Allies and "Secret Forces" includes the various groups of Native American code talkers and the Russian Night Witches, female bomber pilots.

Each chapter ends with projects and activities, including fingerprinting, creating a fake identity card, making a spy rocket, and testing out your own balloon flour bomb. Back matter consists of a bibliography, both books and websites, and a brief note on the author. The book is 117 pages and available only in paperback, in a smaller chapter book format. The layout includes lots of photos, illustrations, captions, and sidebars of information and the book is colored in sepia/orange tones.

I'm kind of torn on this one. On the one hand, it has lots of exciting stories, told in a way that's interesting but not ghoulish or over-dramatic. There was more diversity than you usually see in this type of book and I was especially interested to note that the Night Witches were included, as I'd just been reading about them. The projects and activities mostly look fun and interesting. I do frequently purchase nonfiction in paperback format and these are very affordable. On the other hand, I found several typos (sorry, I marked them and now I can't find them again but I know they are in there) and slim paperbacks like this don't sit well on the shelf - they tend to get squished into the back and disappear. As I'm updating the history section soon, I'd prefer to focus on titles that give a more balanced overview of the war; this focuses more on "cool and heroic things people did".

Verdict: These would certainly circulate well (until they fall off the back of the shelf) and if you're looking to add to your history collection some factey titles with a nice diversity of stories and characters these aren't a bad choice. Hopefully the typos will be taken care of if the books go into another printing.

ISBN: 9781618212443; Published 2014 by Prufrock Press/Sourcebooks; Review copy provided by the publisher

A nifty little book with some things I'd heard about and others I'd not (Muffin & Rat Bombs). Easy to read, long enough to stir your interest, with activities you can work on with your kids or possibly a history class you're taking, and cause a reader to look for a more in-depth book on any of stories included. Very enjoyable little book. ( )

I loved this book. True that Stephanie Bearce gears this book toward the Elementry and Middle School crowd but it has a lot that will interest older readers as well. My Dad, who was in WWII, described the sound of the Doodlebugs flying overhead. Stephanie provides a nice article telling what these are and how deadly they were. The articles describing various Allied spys are another highlight of the book. Baseball player Moe Berg, Double Agent Garbo, and Josephine Baker are just a few. Great pains went into deceiving the enemy with full size inflatable tanks, fake army camps, and camouflaged cities and factories. It is amazing to read how Hollywood set makers aided in pulling off these charades. There are also stories of experimental weapons such as Rat Bombs, Bat Bombs, Muffin Bombs and Sun Guns. This book is a gold mine of information you never knew about WWII. There are also projects for younger readers such as Making a Book Safe or a Ballpoint Pen Message Holder. Building a Glider is also included. There is also the Code Talkers Challenge. Stephanie has also included a nice Bibliography of printed material and also Web Sites for more information. This book is a great book for any reader. Teachers should also have this book in their tool chest as well. ( )

This new book by Stephanie Bearce is a fun-filled adventure into the espionage and intrigue that went on behind the scenes during the second world war, and that led into the full on spy games that dominated the Cold War era. It looks at some of the techniques, missions, and personalities that helped to bring the war to its' successful conclusion. Anecdotes about unusual weapons that never made it beyond the testing phase (e.g. the "Vortex Gun") are also fascinating little footnotes of history that don't typically make their way into the conventional history books.

All in all, it's a exciting read that whisks the reader back in time and makes WW II come alive, introducing it to a new generation of schoolchildren who will find it just as interesting and engrossing as we did.

Two thumbs up! ( )