The Brenner Assignment: The Untold Story of the Most Daring Spy Mission of World War II

"Dim is the rumour of a common fight, When host meets host, and many names are sunk; But of a single combat Fame speaks clear." -- Matthew Arnold "Sohrab and Rustum" (1853) The ski resort town Cortina d'Ampezzo is nestled in the Ampezzo valley of northeastern Italy, bordering Austria. The region's scenic Dolomite alps and valley have played host to a number of motion pictures. Classic adventure films such as The Pink Panther (1963), For Your Eyes Only (1981), and the Cliffhanger (1993) were filmed in the area. Cortina was also the site for the 1956 Winter Olympics. During World War II, Cortina was a vital German army headquarter in northern Italy. It served as the communications and transportation synapse between Italy and Germany. To the west of this alpine village, the Brenner Pass had been the principal artery linking Italy and Austria during the conflict. Even to this day, it is still the lowest and easiest of the alpine routes to travel between the two countries. Its strategic importance dates back to the Roman empire. One month before the Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943, the objective of The Brenner Assignment was for small teams of OSS (Office of Strategic Services) operatives, with the aid of local partisans, to disrupt and destroy the road network in the Cortina area feeding into the Brenner Pass. The principals of this true story centered about the Captains Stephen Hall and Howard Chappell. Hall parachuted into northern Italy in August 1943, a month after the invasion of Sicily. Chappell's charge was to linked up with Hall and provided the latter with a radio operator. Chappell arrived at the Dolomites, the day after Christmas in 1943. By then, it had been three months since the Allied had successfully invaded and secured southern Italy. Consequently, the Allied and Italy declared armistice on 8 September, 1943. With Italy out of the war, the Germans fought on but slowly retreated northward to the Brenner Pass. And the SS were closing in on Hall and Chappell. Yet, the fate of war barred the meeting of these two brothers-in-arms. Each relied on their skills and endurance to complete the objective charged. An excerpt from the book illustrates what these OSS operatives endured while fighting behind enemy line. In this narrative, the determination of an already ill and frostbitten Captain Hall heads toward the Cortina railroad station: "An hour after dawn on January 26, Hall pushed off from his safe house in the tiny Dolomite town of Andrich...Hall's journey took him through seventeen miles of some of the most formidable terrain on earth. The miles are not a true measure of the journey, which only takes more than half an hour by car. On skis, the trip moves over mountains, down gullies, and into canyons. Hall's journey would take at least two days." It's been said the world knows nothing of its greatest men. Books like The Brenner Assignment are answering such challenge and disproving its proposition. Wartime heroic exploits

Start off with one great writer, Patrick K. O'Donnell, add a daring spy mission; then add a world at war, some really bad guys and lots of action and suspense, and you have the essence of a great book. "The Brenner Assignment: The Untold Story Of The Most Daring Spy Mission Of World War II" is that book and it captures a story that is so fascinating it truly is worthy of being made into one of those huge blockbuster action films. For history buffs and readers who enjoy spies, war, suspense and action entertainment they do not get much better. Written like a great novel this story will hold reader's attention from page one to the end. O'Donnell reminds us of why we enjoyed his other writings so well - he is a first rate story-teller!

This book is absolutely riveting! The characters immediately come to life and make you feel as though you are with them navigating incredible adversity and treachery through one of the most intense missions of WWII. This book is impossible to put down and has all the makings of a classic.

O'Donnell's research leading to the intrigue and romance involved in this untold WWII mission is yet another example of his meticulous and relentless search for telling first hand non-fiction. The suspense of behind the lines action and inter-mixed plots makes the reader want to picture the scenes unfolding in front of them. Would love to see Angelina Jolie as the countess when this is made into a movie.

This book reads like a novel and captures an entirely untold front of the war -- the insurgency in northern Italy. I can't even begin to recount all the incredible scenes in the book. For example, the main character shoots his way out of a house surrounded by hundreds of SS troops. He leads his small team down an icy creek and they cover themselves in mud to evade the Germans. Eventually, half the team is captured and a dual ensues between the OSS and Gestapo Major Shiffer. The story pivots on four incredible characters including a countess who was a double agent. I can see her being played by Angelina Jolie. All of it is backed up by thousands of documents, oral histories and the author's travels to Italy where he walked the drop zones and area of operations. This is the greatest adventure of story of WWII ever told - PERIOD.