Dans Mon Catalogue

400 pages

English language

Published May 8, 2024 by HarperCollins Publishers.

ISBN:: 9780063280847

(1 review)

The untold story of the academics who became OSS spies, invented modern spycraft, and helped turn the tide of the war

At the start of WWII, the U.S. found itself in desperate need of an intelligence agency. The Office of Strategic Services (OSS), a precursor to today’s CIA, was quickly formed—and, in an effort to fill its ranks with experts, the OSS turned to academia for recruits. Suddenly, literature professors, librarians, and historians were training to perform undercover operations and investigative work—and these surprising spies would go on to profoundly shape both the course of the war and our cultural institutions with their efforts.

In Book and Dagger, Elyse Graham draws on personal histories, letters, and declassified OSS files to tell the story of a small but connected group of humanities scholars turned spies. Among them are Joseph Curtiss, a literature professor who hunted down German spies and turned them …

The untold story of the academics who became OSS spies, invented modern spycraft, and helped turn the tide of the war

At the start of WWII, the U.S. found itself in desperate need of an intelligence agency. The Office of Strategic Services (OSS), a precursor to today’s CIA, was quickly formed—and, in an effort to fill its ranks with experts, the OSS turned to academia for recruits. Suddenly, literature professors, librarians, and historians were training to perform undercover operations and investigative work—and these surprising spies would go on to profoundly shape both the course of the war and our cultural institutions with their efforts.

In Book and Dagger, Elyse Graham draws on personal histories, letters, and declassified OSS files to tell the story of a small but connected group of humanities scholars turned spies. Among them are Joseph Curtiss, a literature professor who hunted down German spies and turned them into double agents; Sherman Kent, a smart-mouthed history professor who rose to become the head of analysis for all of Europe and Africa; and Adele Kibre, an archivist who was sent to Stockholm to secretly acquire documents for the OSS. These unforgettable characters would ultimately help lay the foundations of modern intelligence and transform American higher education when they returned after the war.

Thrillingly paced and rigorously researched, Book and Dagger is an inspiring and gripping true story about a group of academics who helped beat the Nazis—a tale that reveals the indelible power of the humanities to change the world.

2 editions

Jason reviewed Book and Dagger by Elyse Graham

None

5 stars

One of the most important books of our time. Considering what the United States is currently going through. The same ideological and loyalty purges - the same thing that Germany went through. Germany, lost a World War, an atomic bomb, and being the preeminent scientific country in the world for those two things. There is more that also caused them to the lose the war but it's the racial purity, the dismissal of women, and general shortsightedness that actually lost them those people that made them diverse and strong.

History repeats itself and this book answers the question, what use is a humanities degree? Considering that our CIA was not built from scientists or politicians but by those people (women, Black, Jewish) who were scholars and librarians in the very field that is so often derided today. This book tells the story that Art History is so much more than …

One of the most important books of our time. Considering what the United States is currently going through. The same ideological and loyalty purges - the same thing that Germany went through. Germany, lost a World War, an atomic bomb, and being the preeminent scientific country in the world for those two things. There is more that also caused them to the lose the war but it's the racial purity, the dismissal of women, and general shortsightedness that actually lost them those people that made them diverse and strong.

History repeats itself and this book answers the question, what use is a humanities degree? Considering that our CIA was not built from scientists or politicians but by those people (women, Black, Jewish) who were scholars and librarians in the very field that is so often derided today. This book tells the story that Art History is so much more than it seems and that the best spies are not the rugged good looking military commanders but are the bookworms, and librarians.

James Bond would have been a better spy if he was not a Commander in the Royal Navy but maybe if he was a Cambridge graduate who excelled in the Classics.