cover image Winning the Radar War: A Memoir

Winning the Radar War: A Memoir

Jack Maurice Nissen. St. Martin's Press, $19.95 (224pp) ISBN 978-0-312-01535-0

This is a lively and accessible account of the development and employment of British radar before and during World War II by Nissen, who was at the very center of the secret effort, and freelance writer Cockerill. A memoir of particular interest to the scientifically inclined, the book stands on its own as a story of personal adventure. Early in the war, naively casual about security, Nissen spent a terrifying period under arrest as a suspected spy after giving spare-time aid to RAF pilots who needed help tracking bogies. Equally dangerous but far more important was his adventure as a participant in the cross-Channel Dieppe raid. A tactical disaster, Dieppe was a victory for Allied strategic science as it disclosed the state of German radar at the time. Nissen's subsequent report contributed directly to three major elements of electronic warfare: navigation, electronic deception and military communication. (March)