|
List Price:
$27.95
Our Price:
$18.45
You Save:
33.99%
Average Customer Rating:
Availability:
Usually ships in 24 hours
Company:
Simon & Schuster
|
Description
When Roald Dahl, a dashing young wounded RAF pilot, took up his post at the British Embassy in Washington in 1942, his assignment was to use his good looks, wit, and considerable charm to gain access to the most powerful figures in American political life. A patriot eager to do his part to save his country from a Nazi invasion, he invaded the upper reaches of the U.S. government and Georgetown society, winning over First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and her husband, Franklin; befriending wartime leaders from Henry Wallace to Henry Morgenthau; and seducing the glamorous freshman congresswoman Clare Boothe Luce. Dahl would soon be caught up in a complex web of deception masterminded by William Stephenson, aka Intrepid, Churchill's legendary spy chief, who, with President Roosevelt's tacit permission, mounted a secret campaign of propaganda and political subversion to weaken American isolationist forces, bring the country into the war against Germany, and influence U.S. policy in favor of England. Known as the British Security Coordination (BSC) -- though the initiated preferred to think of themselves as the Baker Street Irregulars in honor of the amateurs who aided Sherlock Holmes -- these audacious agents planted British propaganda in American newspapers and radio programs, covertly influenced leading journalists -- including Drew Pearson, Walter Winchell, and Walter Lippmann -- harassed prominent isolationists and anti-New Dealers, and plotted against American corporations that did business with the Third Reich. In an account better than spy fiction, Jennet Conant shows Dahl progressing from reluctant diplomat to sly man-about-town, parlaying his morale-boosting wartime propaganda work into a successful career as an author, which leads to his entrée into the Roosevelt White House and Hyde Park and initiation into British intelligence's elite dirty tricks squad, all in less than three years. He and his colorful coconspirators -- David Ogilvy, Ian Fleming, and Ivar Bryce, recruited more for their imagination and dramatic flair than any experience in the spy business -- gossiped, bugged, and often hilariously bungled their way across Washington, doing their best to carry out their cloak-and-dagger assignments, support the fledgling American intelligence agency (the OSS), and see that Roosevelt was elected to an unprecedented fourth term. It is an extraordinary tale of deceit, double-dealing, and moral ambiguity -- all in the name of victory. Richly detailed and meticulously researched, Conant's compelling narrative draws on never-before-seen wartime letters, diaries, and interviews and provides a rare, and remarkably candid, insider's view of the counterintelligence game during the tumultuous days of World War II.
Customer reviews for 'The Irregulars: Roald Dahl and the British Spy Ring in Wartime Washington'
|
It is what it is.
So up front let me say, I haven't finished this book. I probably won't. It's not bad or anything like that, just a bit... uninteresting. This is something of a surprise since I like reading about WWII and loved Roald Dahl's books back when I was a wee youngster.
It's not poorly written or anything, it's just that the subject completely failed to grab my attention. I wish I could say more here, but I really can't. It's possible you may enjoy it more than I did.
[Friday, November 21, 2008]
|
|
Roald Dahl: more than just the author of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"!
Being an avid fan of Roald Dahl's many fascinating books, I was immediately drawn to this book about his real life exploits as a spy during World War II. Interestingly, Dahl was also the screenplay writer for the movie, "You Only Live Twice" featuring James Bond, 007, world famous fictional spy created by one of Dahl's espionage colleagues, Ian Fleming.
Conant obviously did extensive research into the propaganda campaign conducted by the British Security Coordination (BSC)in Washington during WWII. Being an American Ally, this British espionage was more of a coercion of influential American politicians, journalists, and the American public into full support of allied forces and later official entrance into the war. The author also provides photos of Dahl and other renowned personalities, including famous women who were swooned by Dahl's charms. Finally, an index/notes of important abbrevations, notable quotes with sources, and a very thorough bibliography.
This book was thoroughly entertaining: not only providing the intricacies of BSC's deft usage of flamboyant personalities of Dahl and cohorts to achieve their objectives but also lends insight into the minds and behaviors of those involved. Overall a satisfying book certainly worthy of the big screen. Jolly good show!
[Thursday, November 20, 2008]
|
|
Interesting as History and as Biography, Both Entertaining and Important
This remarkable book can be read for so many purposes. It is an interesting and readable account of the deeds and trickery of the British Security Council in wartime Washington DC, concentrating on Roald Dahl, but including many many other politicians and future celebrities who crossed his path. The author has pulled together a detailed account drawn from access to all sorts of archives, letters, and interviews.
For those who have ready Dahl's own accounts of his early life, this is the next chapter: who he hung out with, who were his friends, what he did during WWII, how he combined what appeared to be a glitzy social life with his intelligence activities. The rest of his life is briefly given at the end.
I am not a historian, but I believe that it is important for everyone to be aware of how the behind-the-scenes stories of world events are often very different than it appears. This book expands greatly on the activities in Washington DC recounted in _A Man Called Intrepid_. History repeats, and part of this book is about "the shocking willingness of the American press to peddle foreign propaganda aimed at leading the country into war." (p. xvii, sound familiar?).
Fans of biography and those who want to know more about celebrities of the time, (the rich, Hollywood, writers, politicians, and socialites) will enjoy the tidbits about those with who Dahl dealt, what happened during dinner parties, who did what with who, etc., as well as their intelligence activities, like a test of a supposed truth-serum, and so forth. I enjoyed seeing some that I knew only as names brought to life as real people who did and said things, and learning about how they contributed to the war effort.
There are lots of interesting detailed anecdotes. To illustrate, there is an account (p 131) of Roosevelt being helped from his wheel chair to his specially modified hand-lever car and him driving off -- generally there are no accounts which reference Roosevelt's paraplegia due to polio.
Some may feel this book is a collection of celebrity stories, which it is. I think it is also an important and carefully documented record of history of the what happened during that era.
[Wednesday, November 19, 2008]
|
|
