The Ghost Army of World War II ─ How One Top-Secret Unit Deceived the Enemy With Inflatable Tanks, Sound Effects, and Other Audacious Fakery

In the summer of 1944, a handpicked group of young GIs—including such future luminaries as Bill Blass, Ellsworth Kelly, Arthur Singer, and Art Kane—landed in France to conduct a secret mission. Armed with rubber tanks, fake artillery, and more than a few tricks up their sleeves, their job was to create a traveling road show of deception on the battlefields of Europe, with the German Army as their audience. From Normandy to the Rhine, the 1,100 men of the Twenty-Third Headquarters Special Troops, known as the Ghost Army, conjured up phony convoys, phantom divisions, and make-believe headquarters to fool the enemy about the strength and location of American units.

As they traveled across Europe, the artists filled their duffel bags with the drawings and paintings that they created between missions.The Ghost Army of World War II is lavishly illustrated with their original artwork, as well as maps, photographs, official memos, and other never-been-seen documents. Rick Beyer and Elizabeth Sayles's meticulous research included interviews with many of the surviving soldiers, creating a compelling narrative of how a traveling road show of artists wielding imagination, paint, and bravado saved thousands of American lives.

Historian Rick Beyer is a best-selling author, award-winning filmmaker, and popular speaker. He wrote and directed the acclaimed documentary filmThe Ghost Army, which premiered on PBS in 2013.

Elizabeth Sayles is the award-winning, best-selling illustrator of more than twenty-five books for children. Her father, William Sayles, was a member of the Ghost Army, and she grew up listening to his war stories.