In the summer of 1944, a handpicked group of young GIs—including such future luminaries as Bill Blass, Ellsworth Kelly, Arthur Singer, Victor Dowd, Art Kane, and Jack Masey—landed in France to conduct a secret mission. Armed with truckloads of inflatable tanks, a massive collection of sound-effects records, and more than a few tricks up their sleeves, their job was to create a traveling road show of deception on the battlefields of Europe, with...

A collection of lesser-known presidential tales relates such accounts as Abraham Lincoln's saber duel, George Washington's whiskey business, and the Ronald Reagan movie that saved the fortieth president's life decades later.

Tells the story of the Ghost Army, officially known as the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops. From June 1944 to March 1945 it staged 20 battlefield deceptions, beginning in Normandy and ending at the Rhine River. These deceptions included an array of inflatables (tanks, trucks, jeeps, and airplanes), sound trucks, phony radio transmissions and even playacting to fool the enemy.