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Of Spies and Stratagems
191 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 1963
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 3, 2012
This book was written by Stanley Lovell, an American chemist who started life as an orphan and ended up as the Director of Research and Development for the OSS, precursor to the CIA. He was the real-life version of "Q" from James Bond, tasked by "Wild Bill" Donovan (head of the OSS) to create all sorts of ingenious and covert devices. These devices range from soldering incendiary devices to bats ("Bat Bombs") and a military-grade stinkbomb chemical called "Who? Me?" designed to embarrass Japanese officers after months of cultural research... all the way to plans of injecting female hormones into Hitler's garden, causing his mustache to fall out and voice to become soprano.
This book is a very quick read, thanks a great deal to the author's writing style and pace. Despite being filled with lots of names, dates, locations, etc., this book doesn't slow down and in fact left me as a reader wanting to know much more. Especially since Stanley P. Lovell doesn't even have a Wikipedia page. Needless to say, most of the information in this book doesn't exist in too many other places, so it's highly recommended to anyone interested in gadgetry, World War II, and/or the origins of American's intelligence community.
Instead of spoiling some of the more interesting points in this book, I believe the following excerpts are a good example to show the tone.
" 'You are about to land at dead of night in a rubber raft on a German-held coast. Your mission is to destroy a vital enemy wireless installation that is defended by armed guards, dogs, and searchlights. You can have with you any one weapon you can imagine. Describe that weapon...' - Here was something I could sink my teeth into.” - Recounting from Lovell.
"I don’t give a damn how you look. I need every subtle device and every underhanded trick to use against the Germans and the Japanese ... You will have to invent all of them, Lovell, because you’re going to be my man." - William Donovan (head of OSS)
This book is a very quick read, thanks a great deal to the author's writing style and pace. Despite being filled with lots of names, dates, locations, etc., this book doesn't slow down and in fact left me as a reader wanting to know much more. Especially since Stanley P. Lovell doesn't even have a Wikipedia page. Needless to say, most of the information in this book doesn't exist in too many other places, so it's highly recommended to anyone interested in gadgetry, World War II, and/or the origins of American's intelligence community.
Instead of spoiling some of the more interesting points in this book, I believe the following excerpts are a good example to show the tone.
" 'You are about to land at dead of night in a rubber raft on a German-held coast. Your mission is to destroy a vital enemy wireless installation that is defended by armed guards, dogs, and searchlights. You can have with you any one weapon you can imagine. Describe that weapon...' - Here was something I could sink my teeth into.” - Recounting from Lovell.
"I don’t give a damn how you look. I need every subtle device and every underhanded trick to use against the Germans and the Japanese ... You will have to invent all of them, Lovell, because you’re going to be my man." - William Donovan (head of OSS)
January 15, 2026
This book sale find was bought out of curiosity. It was a pleasant surprise. I felt like I stepped into a James Bond movie and Q was showing me around spy inventions. For me this sparked my imagination. I was fascinated at how such creative solutions were dreamed up and made reality. Wished it was longer!
Re-read 1/11 to 1/15/2026
Rereading this book to compare with the two others I read about the OSS. The book was originally published in 1963, and as the author explained, some situations and events were still sensitive or in operation. He also mentioned wondering what happened to many of the agents/operatives. I was curious and did look up a few names, and found that they had gone on to regular work. One was involved in fine art and had opened a gallery.
So many of the contraptions, inventions, and ideas were outrageous, some of which I am glad were never used, especially germ warfare. War is not a pretty business, which Lovell acknowledged. He did acknowledge Bill Donovan’s rationale for recruiting people who thought outside the box and did not follow rules, with the exception of the OSS. They had to be creative, conniving, and live by their wits to do what they did. One individual, I forget the name and the page I read it had said, ‘the more you like people, the more you can hurt them, and know their weaknesses.’ Kind of creepy, but true.
Chapter 14, An Interview with Oswald Spengler, was particularly interesting and timely. Lovell had interviewed him, and Spengler had warned that a US president should never represent wealth and the wealthy class. He said they should represent the masses. The early Americans never looked to the government for maintenance, but only for order within and respect from without. I have to agree.
I enjoyed the stories about Bill Donovan and his organization, which eventually became the CIA run by Allen Dulles. A totally different outfit altogether.
Re-read 1/11 to 1/15/2026
Rereading this book to compare with the two others I read about the OSS. The book was originally published in 1963, and as the author explained, some situations and events were still sensitive or in operation. He also mentioned wondering what happened to many of the agents/operatives. I was curious and did look up a few names, and found that they had gone on to regular work. One was involved in fine art and had opened a gallery.
So many of the contraptions, inventions, and ideas were outrageous, some of which I am glad were never used, especially germ warfare. War is not a pretty business, which Lovell acknowledged. He did acknowledge Bill Donovan’s rationale for recruiting people who thought outside the box and did not follow rules, with the exception of the OSS. They had to be creative, conniving, and live by their wits to do what they did. One individual, I forget the name and the page I read it had said, ‘the more you like people, the more you can hurt them, and know their weaknesses.’ Kind of creepy, but true.
Chapter 14, An Interview with Oswald Spengler, was particularly interesting and timely. Lovell had interviewed him, and Spengler had warned that a US president should never represent wealth and the wealthy class. He said they should represent the masses. The early Americans never looked to the government for maintenance, but only for order within and respect from without. I have to agree.
I enjoyed the stories about Bill Donovan and his organization, which eventually became the CIA run by Allen Dulles. A totally different outfit altogether.
September 26, 2022
An interesting look back at Lovell's time as a lead scientist for the OSS during World War II. Keeping his promise to Wild BIll Donovan to wait 20 years before disclosing any of his wartime activities or information, Lovell presents a series of stories about both the scientific successes (and some failures) of the wartime agency, and some personal perceptions of both the activities and the key participants. Published in 1963, of course the disclosures are not nearly as detailed or comprehensive as later versions would be, but they provide a personal touch that later accounts by professional writers could not.
August 12, 2013
I was a little disappointed by this book - it felt a bit like facts were being stretched to boost the author's ego. It was still entertaining, and picked up nicely towards the end, but I wouldn't read it again.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews