THE TANGLED WEB

These are interesting stories told pretty much on a newspaper level and in ellophane prose. About most of the hoaxes and deceptions discussed lurks a constant ?ry smile that men can be so gullible. The Confederate cavalry leader, Colonel John (TV's ""Grey Ghost""), once rode with a handful of men directly into a Union amp, woke up its commanding general, told him he was surrounded (a fib), and rode again with the general as prisoner. A fast, bold action, and both sides shock their heads with wonder. During World War I, hundreds of phony incidents convinced Americans that the country was riddled with German spies in a huge espionage ring. Actually, German espionage here was a small-scale operation but many Americans were certain that ""enemy agents, with dark moustaches and black capes, were listening t keyholes, poisoning wells, or dashing through the night in their long, black ouring cars on some dark mission"". The Germans, in fact, invented a notorious ady spy whose exploits masterfully harried France's Deuxieme Bureau. Other deceptions include the Allies' attempts to mask the June date for D-Day; British fleets of ""unarmed"" vessels for sinking U-boats; a fake death-ray machine a man tried to ell the British...All told, funny--but no style.