Operation Heartbreak
  • Published: 5 February 2026
  • ISBN: 9781837312108
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 176
Categories:

Operation Heartbreak

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A moving reimagining of the man at the heart of Operation Mincemeat, brilliantly told by the celebrated wartime statesman, historian and author

William Maryngton has one dream in life: to fight for his country, as his father did. Yet, by the time Armistice is reached in 1918, he is too young to fulfil his greatest wish. As time passes, Willie finds himself increasingly out of sync with the evolving nature of warfare and civilian life. Yet, when conflict reignites between Germany and England, he is selected for a secret mission that could determine the outcome of the Second World War.

Inspired by the true events of the 1943 mission codenamed 'Operation Mincemeat', and based on classified information from Churchill's war cabinet, Operation Heartbreak is the only novel that Duff Cooper ever wrote. It remains a timeless exploration of unfulfilled ambition and personal sacrifice, offering a deeply moving portrayal of a man caught between his aspirations and the inexorable march of history.
  • Published: 5 February 2026
  • ISBN: 9781837312108
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 176
Categories:

About the author

Duff Cooper

Alfred Duff Cooper, was a statesman, diplomat and author. Born in 1890, he won the DSO as a second lieutenant in the First World War, and entered Parliament in 1923. His life was devoted to politics until 1938 when, as First Lord of the Admiralty, he resigned in protest at the Munich Agreement. Called back to office by Churchill in 1940, his wartime career culminated in his appointment as Ambassador to France. Shortly before his death he was made 1st Viscount Norwich. Among his best-known books are Talleryrand, Operation Heartbreak and his autobiography, Old Men Forget. He died in 1954.

Also by Duff Cooper

Talleyrand
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Praise for Operation Heartbreak

[A work of] jewel-like brevity and intensity

New York Herald Tribune

Operation Heartbreak pulls off the trick of revealing the fascinating hidden workings of the British War Office within a supremely moving and well-wrought tale... Its ending is as unexpected as it is affecting

Wall Street Journal

A first novel of great distinction . . . a delightful tragi-comedy of military manners. It has been constructed by Duff Cooper with a truly dramatic economy and told with humour, deep feeling and considerable skill

Daily Telegraph

As creditable, as surprising, as abundantly and elegantly good, as anything else Duff Cooper turned his mind and hand to

Michael Hofmann

It is the novel I enjoyed more than any other in the immediate post-war years, and one I have read many times since with undiminished pleasure and growing admiration for Duff Cooper's skill. It is a story of why men go to war, it is also a heart-wrenching love story; a wonderful novel by a masterly writer that should be on everyone's bookshelf

Nina Bawden