Simon Parkin is an award-winning British writer and journalist. He is a contributing writer for the New Yorker, game critic for the Observer newspaper, and a regular contributor to the Guardian's Long Read. He is the recipient of two awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, and his work has been featured in The Best American Nonrequired Reading. He lives on the south coast of England.
"[A Game of Birds and Wolves] brings to life one of the most
elusive aspects of war...compelling."--New York Times Book
Review
"A fascinating story, wonderfully well-told on a little known but
hugely important aspect of naval warfare. The characters of the
main players, notably the Wrens are beautifully and colourfully put
across."--Admiral Sir Michael Layard KCB, CBE, former Second Sea
Lord
"A hugely enjoyable and exciting book. It is fascinating to read
about this little-known aspect of the war which made such a massive
difference to the outcome. A compelling and important new story,
lucidly and humanely told."--Roland Philipps, author of ASpy Named
Orphan: The Enigma of Donald Maclean
"A magnificent look at a war game that mattered most: how to out
fox the Nazi's dreaded U-boats. Told with poetic mastery, Simon
Parkin's A Game of Birds and Wolves unveils the story of Operation
Raspberry, how eight young women and a retired naval captain found
the key to winning the Battle of the Atlantic on a giant board game
played on a linoleum floor."--Annie Jacobsen, author of the
Pulitzer Prize finalist The Pentagon's Brain
"A stunning book of an unknown part of the largely forgotten Battle
of the Atlantic, which is a must to read."--Niall Kilgour, CB,
former Rear Admiral, Submarines and President of theSubmariners
Association
"A thoroughly absorbing book, drawing upon archives and oral
histories. It reads like a thriller, with its accounts of
nerve-wracking battles, extreme weather, icebergs, and ships sunk
in a matter of minutes."--The Wall Street Journal
"A vivid glimpse of a little-known World War II effort...Parkin
weaves this history together like a novel, switching back and forth
among various characters and storylines to reveal a fascinating
fight for freedom; both for Britain and the young women who defied
contemporary norms to serve their country."--Library Journal
"History writing at its best."--Booklist, starred review
"In a riveting, intricately researched book, Simon Parkin tells the
previously unknown story behind the Allied victory in the Atlantic
during World War II. It's an underdog's tale-not only of British
supply fleets trying to outrun German U-boats, but also of the
women game designers who made that victory possible."--Ian Bogost,
IvanAllen College Distinguished Chair in Media Studies at the
Georgia Institute ofTechnology; Contributing writer at The
Atlantic, and author of PlayAnything
"In this engaging history...Parkin paints a vivid picture of
training sessions in which seasoned sailors chafed at being tutored
by 'an inexperienced girl, ' and captures each maneuver in the
ensuing sea battles with zeal."--The New Yorker
"Like a well-designed game, A Game of Birds and Wolves is fun,
informative and intense."--BookPage
"Parkin does a masterful job of evoking the sweep of this vital
piece of naval history in both broad strokes and the telling
detail. Every war buff will want to read this book. And anyone
interested in strategy would be wise to read it as well."--New York
Journal of Books
"Parkin's book is extensively researched, well written, and tells
an engrossing story of a little-known topic."--Science
"Simon Parkin's book rips along at full sail and is full of
personality and personalities. Above all, it brings a barely known
aspect of the sea war out into the light. Which isa triumph in
itself."--Sunday Express (U.K.)
"This is the riveting true story of war, amazing women, and one of
the most important games in history. Read it here before some film
producer makes a mess of it."--Tom MouatMBE, Simulation and
Modelling Technology School, Defence Academy ofthe United
Kingdom
"This stirring history...redresses a balance: none in this doughty
sisterhood has ever been publicly honoured."--Nature
"Through assiduous research and well-paced narrative, Simon Parkin
has given us an extraordinary, little-known story from World War
II. . . . A Game of Birds and Wolves is a work of nonfiction that
reads in part like a thriller."--Pittsburgh-Post Gazette
"With novelistic flair, Parkin transforms material gathered from
research, interviews, and unpublished accounts into a highly
readable book that celebrates the ingenuity of a British naval
"reject" and the accomplishments of the formerly faceless women
never officially rewarded for their contribution to the Allied
defeat of Germany. A lively, sharp WWII history."--Kirkus Reviews
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