Cloak and Dagger

by Corey Ford

"The secret story of the office of strategic services."

216 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1946

Reviews

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the main US organization that engaged in clandestine warfare and spying against the Axis powers. It was headed by William (Wild Bill) Donovan and it sent agents all across the globe on missions ranging from the simple gathering of intelligence and radioing in to the sabotaging of key facilities such as factories, bridges and roads to rescuing captured Allied personnel. While they generally avoided direct combat with enemy forces, some of them were quite spectacular in taking the fight to the enemy.
Written in 1945 and 1946, shortly after the end of World War II, several of the more spectacular missions are described. This would have been after the OSS was disbanded and before the Central Intelligence Agency was formed. Therefore, it serves as a point of patriotic pride in the people that made the OSS an effective tool in the Allied arsenal. In later years when the OSS records were declassified, some of the people that worked for the agency were surprising. For example, famed chef Julia Child worked directly under Donovan.
While only the successful missions were chronicled in this book, there is enough history to convince the reader that the OSS made major contributions to the Allied victory.

[Tom Booth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was fascinated by this collection of short, heroic stories. Not only because of the exploits claimed, but also because it was published in 1945, immediately after so many secret operations concluded.

When one is sufficiently motivated, has resources, and is lucky, it appears there is little that cannot be accomplished. As far a luck is concerned, these were the success stories - there is no indication of how many failed attempts were made.