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Operatives, Spies, and Saboteurs: The Unknown Story of the Men and Women of World War II's OSS
The first-ever full story of American sabotage operations in World War II, based on hundreds of revealing interviews.
The battles of World War II were won not only by the soldiers on the front lines, and not only by the generals and admirals, but also by the shadow warriors whose work is captured for the first time in Operatives, Spies, and Saboteurs. Thanks to the interviews and narrative skills of Patrick O'Donnell and to recent declassifications, an entire chapter of history can now be revealed. A hidden war—a war of espionage, intrigue, and sabotage—played out across the occupied territories of Europe, deep inside enemy lines. Supply lines were disrupted; crucial intelligence was obtained and relayed back to the Allies; resistance movements were organized. Sometimes, impromptu combat erupted; more often, the killing was silent and targeted. The full story of the Office of Strategic Services—OSS, precursor to the CIA—is a dramatic final chapter on one of history's most important conflicts.
In a world made unrecognizable by the restrictions placed on the CIA today, OSS played fast and loose. Legendary chief "Wild Bill" Donovan created a formidable organization in short order, recruiting not only the best and brightest, but also the most fearless. His agents, both men and women, relied on guile, sex appeal, brains, and sheer guts to operate behind the lines, often in disguise, always in secret.
Patrick O'Donnell has made it his life's mission to capture untold stories of World War II before the last of its veterans passes away. He has succeeded in extracting stories from the toughest of men, the most elite of soldiers, and, now, the most secretive of all: the men and women of OSS. From former CIA director William Colby, who parachuted into Norway to sever rail lines, to Virginia Hall, who disguised herself as a milkmaid, joined the French Resistance, and became one of Germany's most wanted figures, the stories of OSS are worthy of great fiction. Yet the stories in this book are all true, carefully verified by O'Donnell's painstaking research.
The agents of OSS did not earn public acclaim. There were no highly publicized medal ceremonies. But the full story of OSS reveals crucial work in espionage and sabotage, work that paved the way for the Allied invasions and disrupted the Axis defenses. Operatives, Spies, and Saboteurs proves that the hidden war was among the most dramatic and important elements of World War II.
The battles of World War II were won not only by the soldiers on the front lines, and not only by the generals and admirals, but also by the shadow warriors whose work is captured for the first time in Operatives, Spies, and Saboteurs. Thanks to the interviews and narrative skills of Patrick O'Donnell and to recent declassifications, an entire chapter of history can now be revealed. A hidden war—a war of espionage, intrigue, and sabotage—played out across the occupied territories of Europe, deep inside enemy lines. Supply lines were disrupted; crucial intelligence was obtained and relayed back to the Allies; resistance movements were organized. Sometimes, impromptu combat erupted; more often, the killing was silent and targeted. The full story of the Office of Strategic Services—OSS, precursor to the CIA—is a dramatic final chapter on one of history's most important conflicts.
In a world made unrecognizable by the restrictions placed on the CIA today, OSS played fast and loose. Legendary chief "Wild Bill" Donovan created a formidable organization in short order, recruiting not only the best and brightest, but also the most fearless. His agents, both men and women, relied on guile, sex appeal, brains, and sheer guts to operate behind the lines, often in disguise, always in secret.
Patrick O'Donnell has made it his life's mission to capture untold stories of World War II before the last of its veterans passes away. He has succeeded in extracting stories from the toughest of men, the most elite of soldiers, and, now, the most secretive of all: the men and women of OSS. From former CIA director William Colby, who parachuted into Norway to sever rail lines, to Virginia Hall, who disguised herself as a milkmaid, joined the French Resistance, and became one of Germany's most wanted figures, the stories of OSS are worthy of great fiction. Yet the stories in this book are all true, carefully verified by O'Donnell's painstaking research.
The agents of OSS did not earn public acclaim. There were no highly publicized medal ceremonies. But the full story of OSS reveals crucial work in espionage and sabotage, work that paved the way for the Allied invasions and disrupted the Axis defenses. Operatives, Spies, and Saboteurs proves that the hidden war was among the most dramatic and important elements of World War II.
384 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2004
63 people are currently reading
918 people want to read
About the author
Patrick K. O'Donnell
14 books270 followersO’Donnell is a bestselling author, critically acclaimed military historian and an expert on elite units. The author of twelve books, including: Washington’s Immortals: The Untold Story of an Elite Regiment Who Changed the Course of the Revolution, The Unknowns, First SEALs, Give Me Tomorrow, The Brenner Assignment, We Were One, Beyond Valor, and Dog Company, he has also served as a combat historian in a Marine rifle platoon during the Battle of Fallujah and speaks often on espionage, special operations, and counterinsurgency. He has provided historical consulting for DreamWorks’ award-winning miniseries Band of Brothers and for scores of documentaries produced by the BBC, the History Channel, and Discovery and is the recipient of several national awards. He also regularly contributes to several national publications and shows.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews
November 8, 2016
After reading this book, I think the subtitle should have been "The OSS: At Least We Tried." The author does his best, but the subtext paints a picture of an organization balked at every turn, whose missions rarely turned out as they should. To be fair, much of this was due to the fledgling spy organization receiving very little cooperation from the information-gathering arms of other military organizations, but it's hard not to admit that the OSS played less of a part in winning the war than I think O'Donnell would like.
However. This is not a book about the OSS as an organization; it's about the men and women who took part in its many, many operations throughout the European and Pacific theaters of war. And those stories were fascinating. If the OSS failed, it was rarely because its operatives were stupid, inadequate, or cowardly. The OSS recruited and trained hundreds of men and women who undertook sometimes deadly missions; in some cases, those men and women simply disappeared from history after being captured. O'Donnell conducted so many interviews it's amazing the book is as short as it is. Much of it is simply the words of the survivors, and those stories are truly gripping. This is not an exhaustive history, but as a collection of personal records, it's remarkable.
However. This is not a book about the OSS as an organization; it's about the men and women who took part in its many, many operations throughout the European and Pacific theaters of war. And those stories were fascinating. If the OSS failed, it was rarely because its operatives were stupid, inadequate, or cowardly. The OSS recruited and trained hundreds of men and women who undertook sometimes deadly missions; in some cases, those men and women simply disappeared from history after being captured. O'Donnell conducted so many interviews it's amazing the book is as short as it is. Much of it is simply the words of the survivors, and those stories are truly gripping. This is not an exhaustive history, but as a collection of personal records, it's remarkable.
August 22, 2023
I've not read anything that focuses on OSS; not much about SOE and WW2, to be honest. I think this is a good starting point: a broad, not too deep and introduction.
Worth the time. I will find more to read.
Worth the time. I will find more to read.
October 21, 2021
A lively, riveting and broad if somewhat superficial overview of OSS, albeit a readable and informative one. It’s basically a collection of firsthand accounts with some filler, and should serve nicely as an introduction.
O’Donnell describes the formation of OSS, the organization’s major figures, their operations, and the resistance they met from other branches of the government and armed forces. O’Donnell does a good job cutting through the supposed glamour of a lot of OSS’s work; operating behind enemy lines was very difficult and required a great deal of support from the locals and from other, more conventional instruments of Allied power. The maps are good.
O’Donnell’s portrait of OSS is, however, rather one-dimensional. The sections on OSS’s origins and its recruitment and training process are cursory. Most of the coverage is of operations in North Africa and Europe; Asia and the Pacific receive less than twenty pages (for some reason, he claims OSS operated in every theater). Operations that affected the postwar world (like in China and Indochina) aren’t even mentioned. When selecting firsthand accounts, it seems like O’Donnell just dumped whatever he collected without pondering what was actually important.
There is little on OSS’s relationship with other allied services. O’Donnell does mention the relationship between Bill Donovan and William Stephenson, but that’s about it. The book mostly stays with the agents in the field, and we never get a good glimpse at the headquarters elements, the organization’s relationship with SOE or other Allied commands, or the strategic dimensions of OSS operations. There is little on the Research and Analysis Branch (even though the bulk of useful OSS intelligence came from there) O’Donnell also argues that OSS’s contribution to the Allied victory was significant, but you never really understand why since O’Donnell never places it into a wider context; often when he makes these arguments he takes whatever an OSS officer said at face value. Also, the argument itself has often been disputed by other historians writing on the topic.
There are also a few factual errors, like Rome being liberated on June 3, calling Walt Rostow “Walter,” writing that the Office of War Information was directed by Robert Sherwood, writing that OSS Special Liaison Units intercepted and decrypted enemy codes (they just distributed it, since OSS didn’t have access to Bletchley Park), writing that OSS was created by an executive order, that OSS slowed SS units in southern France in 1944 (even though there weren’t many OSS elements there and the French resistance in the area mostly didn’t coordinate with them), writing that the German counteroffensive in the Ardennes occurred in part because the US First Army dismissed its OSS detachments (so a small group of OSS operatives was privy to intelligence that other Allied commanders weren’t?), and writing that OSS played a major role at the Nuremberg tribunals (it did?).
Also, at one point, O’Donnell writes that Claude Dansey, assistant chief of SIS, believed Fritz Kolbe to be a double agent, and that Dansey believed Dulles to be ignorant of the risks involved. This assertion isn’t new; it was written about before the secrets of ULTRA were declassified. Dansey’s real concern was that, if the Germans caught Kolbe, they would take the precaution of changing their cipher systems. Dansey thought contact with Kolbe was unnecessary and wouldn’t turn up anything they weren’t getting from ULTRA. However, Dulles misinterpreted SIS’s position because he wasn’t in on the ULTRA secret.
A well-written and compelling work, but not without some issues.
O’Donnell describes the formation of OSS, the organization’s major figures, their operations, and the resistance they met from other branches of the government and armed forces. O’Donnell does a good job cutting through the supposed glamour of a lot of OSS’s work; operating behind enemy lines was very difficult and required a great deal of support from the locals and from other, more conventional instruments of Allied power. The maps are good.
O’Donnell’s portrait of OSS is, however, rather one-dimensional. The sections on OSS’s origins and its recruitment and training process are cursory. Most of the coverage is of operations in North Africa and Europe; Asia and the Pacific receive less than twenty pages (for some reason, he claims OSS operated in every theater). Operations that affected the postwar world (like in China and Indochina) aren’t even mentioned. When selecting firsthand accounts, it seems like O’Donnell just dumped whatever he collected without pondering what was actually important.
There is little on OSS’s relationship with other allied services. O’Donnell does mention the relationship between Bill Donovan and William Stephenson, but that’s about it. The book mostly stays with the agents in the field, and we never get a good glimpse at the headquarters elements, the organization’s relationship with SOE or other Allied commands, or the strategic dimensions of OSS operations. There is little on the Research and Analysis Branch (even though the bulk of useful OSS intelligence came from there) O’Donnell also argues that OSS’s contribution to the Allied victory was significant, but you never really understand why since O’Donnell never places it into a wider context; often when he makes these arguments he takes whatever an OSS officer said at face value. Also, the argument itself has often been disputed by other historians writing on the topic.
There are also a few factual errors, like Rome being liberated on June 3, calling Walt Rostow “Walter,” writing that the Office of War Information was directed by Robert Sherwood, writing that OSS Special Liaison Units intercepted and decrypted enemy codes (they just distributed it, since OSS didn’t have access to Bletchley Park), writing that OSS was created by an executive order, that OSS slowed SS units in southern France in 1944 (even though there weren’t many OSS elements there and the French resistance in the area mostly didn’t coordinate with them), writing that the German counteroffensive in the Ardennes occurred in part because the US First Army dismissed its OSS detachments (so a small group of OSS operatives was privy to intelligence that other Allied commanders weren’t?), and writing that OSS played a major role at the Nuremberg tribunals (it did?).
Also, at one point, O’Donnell writes that Claude Dansey, assistant chief of SIS, believed Fritz Kolbe to be a double agent, and that Dansey believed Dulles to be ignorant of the risks involved. This assertion isn’t new; it was written about before the secrets of ULTRA were declassified. Dansey’s real concern was that, if the Germans caught Kolbe, they would take the precaution of changing their cipher systems. Dansey thought contact with Kolbe was unnecessary and wouldn’t turn up anything they weren’t getting from ULTRA. However, Dulles misinterpreted SIS’s position because he wasn’t in on the ULTRA secret.
A well-written and compelling work, but not without some issues.
March 18, 2017
As a history piece, it does a good job of staying true to its source material and incorporating in primary sources. However, as a book that is supposed to tell the stories of the people and organizations it features, it does a poor job of truly bringing out the importance of each event. It's bogged down by large block quotes that prevent the book itself from being an interesting read. Instead of writing in his own words what occurred in each event, the author appears to have decided to let the quotes do the talking, which can be very tedious, especially where the original speakers may be poor orators themselves.
Overall, it's a good history source, but with awful pacing and creativity.
Overall, it's a good history source, but with awful pacing and creativity.
December 13, 2019
Fascinating! This book pairs well with Shadow Warriors of World War II and A Woman of No Importance. I’m glad I read these three books close together, because they built a more complete picture of the secret spy side of WWII. This one was unique since it included first-person accounts from some of the agents who lived through the events of the war. The bad language was more overwhelming in this book than the other two, which was a drawback for me.
Content: profanity, expletives, nudity, war violence, alcohol
Content: profanity, expletives, nudity, war violence, alcohol
February 1, 2018
The author recounts the beginnings of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), a precursor to the present day CIA, based on archival information made more compelling with personal accounts derived from over 300 interviews with surviving OSS personnel. It's a fascinating perspective on WWII history and spycraft that may complement any reader interested in these topics.
March 21, 2018
A most informative read!
March 8, 2022
Audible 9 hours 49 min. Narrated by Christopher Lee (B)
January 21, 2023
A braggadocio piece of propaganda demonizing anti-communist groups in Europe. The nonchalant bragging of murdering civilians for being to "Nordic looking" serve only to remind the reader of the disgusting legacy of Jewish perversion.
June 18, 2017
Bottom Line First:
Patrick K. O'Donnell has brought together some interesting first person accounts of America's WWII military spy organization the Office of Strategic Services. His book Operatives, Spies and Saboteurs is a readable if light weight construction of what individual survivors did while undercover in World War II. For the casual reader, this is history absent any academic fluff or grand theory and filled with the deeds of men and women who acted heroically and are haunted by the excesses of total war.
Partisans were rarely forgiving of Nazi's or their supporters and the Nazis remain as vicious as all other documents confirm. Some readers may wonder at the stories untold because the speakers are long gone. Given the lack of attention to competing allied underground forces some of the claimed achievements are perhaps made by a friendly author rather than the results of deeper analysis.
My conclusion Operatives, Spies and Saboteurs is a good beach read history and shallow to the point of distracting to the serious scholar.
To the degree that Operative, Spies and Saboteurs honors the deeds and lives of people who took great risks and too often paid that last full measure it succeeds. History is not just for the experts and the detail curious. Accessible history serves its role by bringing to light the things people did, that people need to remember as a matter of respect. There are heroes among us; no less so because they could not be famous even if fame was a reward they might have wanted.
That said O'Donnell has little to tell us about allied secret services. He acknowledges the relationship between Bill Donovan as the founding head of OSS and Sir William Stephenson, his counterpart and agency mentor from `across the pond'. It comes as a shock when the OSS is joined by Italian underwater units (The Italians had some of the most effective underwater attack units of all the major national forces in WWII). A later story about the exfiltration of the virtually intact Finnish secret service was not recounted with sufficient detail. These people came with valuable information but there is little case made that the OSS or the US derived much benefit. Even worse the Finns delivered the information that would have allowed us to read important parts of (then Allied) Soviet coded messages but `officially`all related copy was returned to the surprised Soviets. (Copy being the operative word)
The point of view remains with operating agents and we get little of the view from OSS headquarters or allied command. O'Donnell twice suggests that the German success at launching the Battle of the Bulge was in part due to a decision by First Army HQ to refuse OSS units the necessary operational permissions. This is two large statements,(The why for 1st Army's decision and the possibility of OSS detection of massing German forces) and worthy of much greater discussion. There is no such discussion.
Among members of the military it is a matter of pride that this or that service branch is the first ashore or into a battle field. This book adds to this mix of chest thumping and exchanges of pride that sometimes the irregulars were there first and that the gleaning from their work was an increased survival rate among the fighting troops who arrived next.
Patrick K. O'Donnell has brought together some interesting first person accounts of America's WWII military spy organization the Office of Strategic Services. His book Operatives, Spies and Saboteurs is a readable if light weight construction of what individual survivors did while undercover in World War II. For the casual reader, this is history absent any academic fluff or grand theory and filled with the deeds of men and women who acted heroically and are haunted by the excesses of total war.
Partisans were rarely forgiving of Nazi's or their supporters and the Nazis remain as vicious as all other documents confirm. Some readers may wonder at the stories untold because the speakers are long gone. Given the lack of attention to competing allied underground forces some of the claimed achievements are perhaps made by a friendly author rather than the results of deeper analysis.
My conclusion Operatives, Spies and Saboteurs is a good beach read history and shallow to the point of distracting to the serious scholar.
To the degree that Operative, Spies and Saboteurs honors the deeds and lives of people who took great risks and too often paid that last full measure it succeeds. History is not just for the experts and the detail curious. Accessible history serves its role by bringing to light the things people did, that people need to remember as a matter of respect. There are heroes among us; no less so because they could not be famous even if fame was a reward they might have wanted.
That said O'Donnell has little to tell us about allied secret services. He acknowledges the relationship between Bill Donovan as the founding head of OSS and Sir William Stephenson, his counterpart and agency mentor from `across the pond'. It comes as a shock when the OSS is joined by Italian underwater units (The Italians had some of the most effective underwater attack units of all the major national forces in WWII). A later story about the exfiltration of the virtually intact Finnish secret service was not recounted with sufficient detail. These people came with valuable information but there is little case made that the OSS or the US derived much benefit. Even worse the Finns delivered the information that would have allowed us to read important parts of (then Allied) Soviet coded messages but `officially`all related copy was returned to the surprised Soviets. (Copy being the operative word)
The point of view remains with operating agents and we get little of the view from OSS headquarters or allied command. O'Donnell twice suggests that the German success at launching the Battle of the Bulge was in part due to a decision by First Army HQ to refuse OSS units the necessary operational permissions. This is two large statements,(The why for 1st Army's decision and the possibility of OSS detection of massing German forces) and worthy of much greater discussion. There is no such discussion.
Among members of the military it is a matter of pride that this or that service branch is the first ashore or into a battle field. This book adds to this mix of chest thumping and exchanges of pride that sometimes the irregulars were there first and that the gleaning from their work was an increased survival rate among the fighting troops who arrived next.
March 31, 2018
This book does a good job of giving a general sense of the operations of the OSS's activities during WWII. I felt it tried to cover too much and it left me only with a general sense of things. It was somewhat fragmented because of the scope of the subject. There were stories of individuals that kept me interested, but I was left wanting more of their stories and feeling unsatisfied.
January 12, 2022
Impeccably researched with great interviews but poorly put together. The OSS may be one of the most fascinating organizations in military history and some of the stories revealed in these interviews really show that but the author did a poor job of organizing and explaining who was saying what and what they were referring to.
Fascinating and worth the read but hard to get through and at times confusing.
Not the best OSS book iv read.... but not the worst either
Best part to me was the last few pages of the book. Here the author details how impactful the OSS was as a whole to both WWII and the Cold War and how impressive/accomplished they were as an organization.
Fascinating and worth the read but hard to get through and at times confusing.
Not the best OSS book iv read.... but not the worst either
Best part to me was the last few pages of the book. Here the author details how impactful the OSS was as a whole to both WWII and the Cold War and how impressive/accomplished they were as an organization.
November 18, 2018
Once again, O'Donnell presents a collage of oral history, collecting first-hand recollections on the WW II pre-CIA clandestine operations. Drawn from interviews and memories, the scope tends to be at the individual operation level. There are many underwater frogmen ventures that standout, as they obviously did to Ian Fleming who drew inspiration from the training for them. Of course, not all succeeded and several operatives from the division-strength organization ended in Nazi hands, at times eyeless and hanging from meat hooks.
June 23, 2023
Much of the information in this book I had already read in A Man Called Intrepid by William Stevenson and They Dared Return: The True Story of Jewish Spies Behind the Lines in Nazi Germany by Patrick K. O'Donnell, but I learned about the true mission of the Dieppe Raid. I'm not going to give that away here. I had always thought that the raid on Dieppe was just a commando raid, but it was much more. O'Donnell is so good that I am referencing one of his books while reviewing another. All of his books are on my reading list.
June 15, 2019
Spies, double agents, cyanide pills, umbrella guns and “the Limping Lady”!
I started to read this when I paused reading "The Town and the City" by Jack Kerouac, right at the bombing of Pearl Harbor in that tale. Then I switched to this volume about "...the Men and Women of WWII's OSS"!
Interesting how often prostitutes were used to gather information! And pretty sad how many agents were tortured and killed, often in gruesome ways. This is an interesting read, both as a World War II book and as a book about spies. I grew up reading the James Bond books, so this was right up my alley! Interesting, interesting stuff!
I started to read this when I paused reading "The Town and the City" by Jack Kerouac, right at the bombing of Pearl Harbor in that tale. Then I switched to this volume about "...the Men and Women of WWII's OSS"!
Interesting how often prostitutes were used to gather information! And pretty sad how many agents were tortured and killed, often in gruesome ways. This is an interesting read, both as a World War II book and as a book about spies. I grew up reading the James Bond books, so this was right up my alley! Interesting, interesting stuff!
December 30, 2019
A worthwhile summary of the OSS with nuggets of unit and individual stories that helped paint the picture of what life was like for these newly established agents. I think i would have preferred more of those nuggets. Nothing wrong with data, which is in plenty here, but the author certainly has a talent for weaving together a good story.
November 18, 2020
This book gives an excellent history of the creation of espionage in the first half of the twentieth century. In current times, the public is aware of the C.I.A. and F.B.I., but the O.S.S. is the under-appreciated predecessor of these organizations. This book tells the history of espionage in the age of world wars.
November 3, 2022
I was surprised at how many of the stories in this book I have read in other books. What I liked about this book was that most of it was told through military reports recently declassified whose authors were the people involved. So many brave people fought, suffered, and possibly dies to keep the world free.
November 28, 2020
Some interesting stories, but this book has no framework, no thesis, so it is very easy to get lost in the cascade of story after story. The book felt less like a book and more like a 200-page-long listicle.
June 23, 2021
An incredibily well researched account of the unknown history of the covert operations during WWII. The OSS was the predecessor of the CIA, and this book by O'Donnell gives the hard truth about some of the actions and events that happened.
August 6, 2017
Really enjoyed this work. Things I had never heard before.
January 20, 2018
I read a few chapters and put it back down. It's interesting -- and yet morbid! So focused on war (which is to be expected)...I just found it depressing after a while.
March 25, 2018
Neat stories. Similar to "The Jedburghs", just not as flashy. These people had serious grit that seems to be rarely found in today's culture.
May 18, 2019
A good book overall on the various operations during WW2. As I didn't that the OSS conducted maritime operations as that was a new information to me,
July 15, 2019
A book that will open your eyes to the extraordinary contributions made by our military intelligence to our WW2 war victory
Read
October 15, 2019DNF, page 102
October 31, 2020
Adequate overview of OSS operations during WWII. Taken from the participants, the book is filled with specific examples of activities in various places and times during the war.
February 7, 2022
Audible.
May 2, 2022
Interesting but not great, I would recommend it
December 4, 2023
A nice tour through WW2 history from the perspective of the OSS, with many original interviews from people who were present. I have a new respect for the French Resistance.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews