Scholars of Mayhem

Scholars of Mayhem tells the story of Jean Claude Guiet and the other three agents in his ''circuit,'' codenamed Salesman, a unit of Britain''s Special Operations Executive, the secret service ordered by Churchill to ''Set Europe ablaze.'' Parachuted into France the day after D-Day, the Salesman team organised, armed, and commanded a ghostly army of 10,000 French Resistance fighters. National pride has kept the story of SOE in France obscure, but of this there is no doubt: While the Resistance had plenty of heart, it was SOE that gave it teeth and claws.