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The secret propaganda war against the Nazis

Terry Stiastny tells the story of the British misfits and mavericks charged with waging psychological war on Nazi-occupied Europe

• Spencer Mizen

Published: December 19, 2025 at 8:00 AM

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In September 1939, an unlikely assortment of journalists, politicians, novelists and spies assembled in a Bedfordshire village and set about waging a covert propaganda war on Hitler's Germany. Here, in conversation with Spencer Mizen, Terry Stiastny reveals how the Political War Executive deployed everything from fake news and pornography to bogus killings to spread fear and confusion in Nazi-occupied Europe.

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Terry Stiastny is the author of Believable Lies: The Misfits Who Fought Churchill's Secret Propaganda War (Ebury, 2025).

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Authors

Spencer MizenSenior production editor

Spencer is senior production editor of HistoryExtra magazine

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