Agents of Influence
A British Campaign, a Canadian Spy, and the Secret Plot to Bring America into World War II
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The astonishing story of the British spies who set out to draw America into World War II
As World War II raged into its second year, Britain sought a powerful ally to join its cause-but the American public was sharply divided on the subject. Canadian-born MI6 officer William Stephenson, with his knowledge and influence in North America, was chosen to change their minds by any means necessary.
In this extraordinary tale of foreign influence on American shores, Henry Hemming shows how Stephenson came to New York--hiring Canadian staffers to keep his operations secret--and flooded the American market with propaganda supporting Franklin Roosevelt and decrying Nazism. His chief opponent was Charles Lindbergh, an insurgent populist who campaigned under the slogan "America First" and had no interest in the war. This set up a shadow duel between Lindbergh and Stephenson, each trying to turn public opinion his way, with the lives of millions potentially on the line.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Hemming (Agent M) delivers a lucid, fast-paced account of England's secret scheme to draw America into WWII. Shortly after the June 1940 Dunkirk evacuation, Canadian-born MI6 agent Bill Stephenson launched the "largest state-sponsored influence campaign ever run on American soil." Drawing on newly declassified British records, Hemming reveals how Stephenson's staff infiltrated interventionist groups such as the Anti-Nazi League; spread "distorted" news stories; and manipulated public opinion polls. The MI6 agents were clandestinely helped by notable Americans, including Time magazine publisher Henry Luce and lawyer William "Wild Bill" Donovan, who, with Stephenson's guidance, set up the Office of the Coordinator of Information, America's "first centralized intelligence agency." In addition to recounting Stephenson's covert operations, Hemming documents the activities of prominent isolationists including Charles Lindbergh, and the efforts of senior German diplomat Hans Thomsen to keep America out of the war. The broad outlines of Hemming's story are familiar, but his crisp narrative is enlivened by his family connection to the story: his grandparents were friends with, and may have worked for, Stephenson. This entertaining espionage history illuminates an important chapter in the history of foreign influence on American public opinion.
