FREEPORT, N.Y., Feb. 1, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- The life of a spy is often hectic and dangerous. This was exactly what author Helias Doundoulakis experienced. He witnessed Germany's invasion of Greece during the early days of World War II, joined the Greek Resistance, then went on to become a spy in the OSS. Now, for the first time ever he reveals his experiences with his new book I Was Trained To Be A Spy.
I Was Trained To Be A Spy follows the story of an American-born boy who grew up in a small village on the Greek island of Crete. During his final years in high school, he is present during the German invasion of his island as WWII began. At the age of eighteen, he joined a resistance group and supplied crucial information to the SOE, the arm of the English Intelligence Service. This group, however, is uncovered, resulting in their hasty evacuation by the SOE, to Cairo, Egypt. There, Doundoulakis and his brother were asked to join the English Intelligence Service, only to pursue the American OSS (Office of Strategic Services) which was the newly formed American intelligence counterpart. As such, they were enlisted into the U.S. Army and attached to the OSS, where the author was trained for intelligence as well as other combat skills. After being oriented into a highly-skilled "spy," Doundoulakis was sent back to Greece along with a Greek naval intelligence officer, and later set up a communications cell with a wireless radio he smuggled in, hidden inside a can of olive oil!
Filled with historical references, I Was Trained To Become A Spy is a detailed and lively account of one young man's spy training that truly brings to life the daily routines and mentality of a real spy. Driving the reading experience is the constant danger of being caught, which will undoubtedly keep readers fascinated from one page to another. Highly-recommended to history enthusiasts, military personnel and fans of espionage, I Was Trained To Be A Spy is now available for ordering online at Xlibris.com and at your local bookstore.
About the Author
Helias Doundoulakis was born in Canton, Ohio, in 1923, of Greek-immigrant parents. At the age of two years old, his family returned to Crete, Greece, and there they lived uneventfully until the German elite paratroopers invaded Crete in 1941. After his two-year involvement with the Cretan Resistance and English intelligence Service, he and his brother, George, a leader in the Resistance, escaped to Cairo, Egypt with the help of an English torpedo boat, to avoid capture by the Gestapo. He enlisted in the American army and was trained as a spy in Cairo, by the newly created OSS, Office of Strategic Services and also by the English Intelligence Service, and was sent as a spy to Salonica, the second largest city in Greece, on a dangerous undergound mission. He was the only American soldier in that city for a period of nine months, sending daily messages to OSS headquarters in Cairo on German movements. With the information sent by these cryptic messages, many Axis ships were sunk, trains bombed, and thousands of Germans were killed. At the wars conclusion, he was decorated by the United States Army and the Greek Government.
I Was Trained To Be A Spy * by Helias Doundoulakis
A True Life Story
Publication Date: December 27, 2007
Trade Paperback; $15.99; 194 pages; 978-1-4257-5379-5
Cloth Hardback; $22.99; 194 pages; 978-1-4257-5395-5
To request a complimentary paperback review copy, contact the publisher at (888) 795-4274 x. 7836. Tear sheets may be sent by regular or electronic mail to Marketing Services. To purchase copies of the book for resale, please fax Xlibris at (610) 915-0294 or call (888) 795-4274 x.7876.