For the most part, I thought this was a fascinating and well-researched book that was definitely worth the time to read. This is one of those books that makes you consider the past, and then wonder how far we have really come since then. What these people went through was certainly worthy of being recounted, and I felt this author did an excellent job of telling their stories factually and with compassion.

There were sections of this book where I felt there might have been a few too many details given, which slowed the pace for the average reader. I Think without those details, it would have retained more of the edge that made other parts of this book so great.

This is an emotionally moving and thought provoking read and I would recommend it to anyone interested in history.

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher, provided through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

The incredible World War II saga of the German-Jewish commandos who fought in Britain’s most secretive special-forces unit—but whose story has gone untold until now. June 1942, the shadow of the Third Reich has fallen across the European continent. In desperation, Winston Churchill and his chief of staff form an unusual plan: a new commando unit made up of Jewish refugees who have escaped to Britain. The resulting volunteers are a motley group of intellectuals, artists, and athletes, most from Germany and Austria. They will stop at nothing to defeat the Nazis. Trained in counterintelligence and advanced combat, this top-secret unit becomes known as X Troop. Some simply call them a suicide squad.
Drawing on extensive original research, including interviews with the last surviving members, Leah Garrett follows this unique band of brothers from Germany to England and back again. Their story is profoundly gripping.

A good addition to the WW2 bookshelf for any history buffs. Some little known details are presented in this book. Overall, an engaging read.

An interesting look at a group of German and Austrian Jewish refugees who escaped the Nazis and made it to England, and eventually were allowed to fight as an elite commando troop. I enjoyed learning about this aspect of the war I hadn't heard about before, and Leah Garrett does an excellent job placing the reader among the men and bringing their journeys to life.. Reading about their young lives in Germany and Austria was tragic, but in a way what was worse was reading about how they were treated when they came to England. I had no idea the cruelties the refugees suffered once they were 'safe' in 'free' England and I'm glad to have learned a bit about that aspect. Garrett focuses on a few men in particular to provide detailed examples of what happened to members of the troop, and I thought did a great job bringing these men, their hopes and ambitions, tragedies and triumphs, to the reader.

A book on a little known aspect of World War II, as well as before and after the war, and a book that everyone should read.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

WW2, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, royal-marine-commandos, internment, deprived-of-well-earned-citizenship, Kindertransport, interviews, historical-figures, historical-places-events, historical-research, history-and-culture, nonfiction, action-adventure*****

I think that fear drove much of the humanity from the British government both in the early days of Hitler's rise to a time after the war when uncommon sense should have reigned. Men and young men who were born in Hitler's domain were sent away to other continents as enemy aliens after they had escaped and were treated very badly despite being Jewish. As things got worse for England it was determined that the Royal Marines commando units would be a good place for some of them because of their language skills. So they were given the rigorous training and stripped of their previous identity and sent off. Their actions and exploits are the stuff of legends, but their motivation was to destroy the regime that cruelly murdered their families and their former homelands. After the war, the British government remained averse to granting citizenship to these warriors!
The research was meticulous and the documentation includes diaries and declassified government documents as well as interviews done this millennium with survivors, wives, children, and grandchildren (some of whom were raised Christian out of personal fears). Fortunately, the epilogue gives a good amount of information about their lives after the war.
I learned a lot, and that's always a positive for a history geek.
I requested and received a temporary digital ARC of this book from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

The story of a troop of Jewish men who gave up everything - names, families, and in some cases their lives in order to fight the Third Reich. These men their changed their names and their backgrounds to train and fight under the British forces as commandos. Amazing story.

I thought I knew a decent amount about the war from books and movies that I've read in the past. X Troop showed me parts of an impressive and important story that I had never heard. The stories of British and Canadian troops fighting fail to mention how horribly they also treated Jewish refugees. They highlight their heroes, but don't talk about how critical these immigrants were.
Leah Garrett does a great job of detailing a lot of facts about different men and battles while still making it feel personal and exciting. I was worried X Troop would be like a text book, but you really got a sense for who these men were, bringing their different personalities to life. They each had presence and you were cheering them on.
I don't read a lot of non-fiction, but I'm so grateful to Netgalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for providing this book for a review. It is a great reminder of how people's real lives can be so much greater than fiction.

This is an actual group that quietly performed during WW2 but was never recognized for what it was and who served in it. Some one in the British Army had the brilliant idea of training refugees from the Nazi Regime, to infiltrate back into Europe and act as a 'fifth column' against the Wehrmacht. These troops trained as Commandos to go behind the lines and capture and interrogate soldiers without having to bring them in for questioning.

This group (like those made up of French, Norwegian, Yugoslavs) were immensely helpful because they spoke like natives and could pass as locals. For X Troop, 85 of 87 men were of Jewish background and their losses were 22 of 87 (25%) while the majority were sent home at one time to have time to let their wounds heal. After the war, they interrogated captured Germans, looking to shake out those Nazi/SS that tried to hide in the general population.

Even though the majority of those who stayed in England after the war, converted to Christianity, it took them over eighteen months before the British Government agreed to naturalize these men. The underlying anti-semetism still effected these superb soldiers.

Let us Fight

I cannot believe some of the happenings in this book. I knew of the cruelty and anti-semantic beliefs of the German's but I did not know how badly they were treated by the British after the war started. They were kicked out of Germany, Poland and other occupied areas, they went to Britain where they were welcomed and when the war started they were suddenly German Aliens and put in internment camps many that were not so good.

One of the worse stories in the book is about the men sent on the ship Dunera from Liverpool England to New South Wales in Australia. The captain that ran the ship was a Nazi loving anti-semantic person and treated the Jewish passengers very cruelly. The 400 German POW's most of them Nazi's or Nazi sympathizers on the boat were given cabins. The 1450 Jewish immigrants from Austria and Germany were stuffed in the hold of the ship with almost no water or sanitary conditions and little food and what food they got was full of weevils. Soon men were sick from Dysentery and diseases caused from the horrible unsanitary conditions and many died. If they complained, they were beaten. They were then taken to Camp Hay in New South Wales in Australia. The camp was dry, barren and hot.

When they had been there awhile they were allowed to transfer to the Pioneer Corps which built bridge and roads and such. Many of the Jewish immigrants were in the Pioneer Corps.

The British government came up with a plan to recruit German speaking immigrants for a special unit in the service. They called it X Troop. These soldiers were trained to be commandos and go in and not only gain important information by theft but by interrogating the German prisoner's on the spot. This information was to be used to help the British win the war.

These Jewish immigrants only wanted to fight against Hitler. They were not a danger to Britain. This new troop was made up of very successful Jewish men as you can read in the book with their missions. They were brave, courageous and hated the Nazi's.

I enjoyed reading history that I knew nothing about before. I was sad that the Jewish immigrants were treated so badly, but happy that those in the X Troop found a way to fight.

It was good that at the end of the book the author told the continuing story of some of the main characters and what happened to them after the war. That this was a true story made it much more interesting.

Thanks to Leah Garrett, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishers, and Netgalley for allowing me to read a copy of the book for an honest review.

I really wanted to like this book, but it fell a bit short. I was unaware of the prevalence of anti semitism in Britain at the time of the war and that part was an eye opener to me. It is unfortunate that after all the extensive training those young Jewish men experienced it seemed that they were not used as effectively as they could have been by commanders who perhaps did not trust them and who didn't appreciate the value of using people who were trained to work together as a group rather than spreading them to work alone in other companies. I would have liked it better if there were maps, and if there was more continuity in telling their story. I appreciated the beginning and the ending where I found the after the war biographies. Much of the part in the middle was not so helpful. I received this ARC from NetGalley, and have no obligations to them.

See my full review on GoodReads here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3861087152. Overall a good addition to the WWII canon. Little known history finally seeing the light of day.

The "X Troop" is an in-depth investigation into the top secret commandos that were made up of Jewish refugees that taught against the Nazis. A very through and detailed account of the make up and actions of this group that tell of their heroic deeds and encounters in WW2.