My Favorite WW2 Novels

War, Spies and Bobby Sox by Libby Fischer Hellmann

It may have ended more than seventy years ago. But WW2 still fascinates authors from every corner of the world. While we haven’t seen such a widespread and horrific conflict since, and I hope we never do, it’s a unique period in history that fascinates me too. Following the launch of my WW2 trilogy, I … Read more

Spy Tradecraft: A Baker’s Dozen

As some of you know, World War Two has always called to me, and the research I did for An Incidental Spy was a journey of discovery into the creative ways spies communicated with each other and their spymasters. Here in the US, well before we joined the war, Nazi spies were active on our … Read more

The Incidental Spy — Giveaway

It’s getting close to the official launch of the print version of The Incidental Spy — A Novella (September 20), so I’m giving away a couple of copies on Goodreads. Check them out here:   Goodreads Book Giveaway The Incidental Spy by Libby Fischer Hellmann Giveaway ends September 25, 2015. See the giveaway details at … Read more

Bletchley Park: Breaking The Enigma

The sine qua non of the war effort at Bletchley Park was the need to break the German Enigma machine. The Enigma was basically a mechanical cipher machine that was used by every German military (and some civilian) sectors  to transmit messages about troop movements, bombings, battle plans, Uboats, and other German war tactics. The … Read more

Bletchley Park: Codebreaking Tradecraft

Those of you who know more than I do about codebreaking (and that’s likely most of you reading this) know this already. But I didn’t, so for myself and others who don’t, there are six basic steps to codebreaking, as practiced in Bletchley Park during the War. The signage at Bletchley explains: “If you can … Read more

Bletchley Park: Setting the Scene

Most of you you know I’m a former film and video producer as well as a history addict, particularly periods of history that are fraught with conflict. I was lucky enough to visit Bletchley Park in the UK over the holidays, and, of course, I took dozens of photos which I’ll organize and post in … Read more