The Dirty Tricks Department
Stanley Lovell, the OSS, and the Masterminds of World War II Secret Warfare
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4.2 • 34 Ratings
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
John Lisle reveals the untold story of the OSS Research and Development Branch—The Dirty Tricks Department—and its role in World War II.
In the summer of 1942, Stanley Lovell, a renowned industrial chemist, received a mysterious order to report to an unfamiliar building in Washington, D.C. When he arrived, he was led to a barren room where he waited to meet the man who had summoned him. After a disconcerting amount of time, William “Wild Bill” Donovan, the head of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), walked in the door. “You know your Sherlock Holmes, of course,” Donovan said as an introduction. “Professor Moriarty is the man I want for my staff…I think you’re it.”
Following this life-changing encounter, Lovell became the head of a secret group of scientists who developed dirty tricks for the OSS, the precursor to the CIA. Their inventions included Bat Bombs, suicide pills, fighting knives, silent pistols, and camouflaged explosives. Moreover, they forged documents for undercover agents, plotted the assassination of foreign leaders, and performed truth drug experiments on unsuspecting subjects.
Based on extensive archival research and personal interviews, The Dirty Tricks Department tells the story of these scheming scientists, explores the moral dilemmas that they faced, and reveals their dark legacy of directly inspiring the most infamous program in CIA history: MKULTRA.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Historian Lisle debuts with a knowledgeable and entertaining study of the R&D Branch within the Office of Strategic Services during WWII. In 1942, OSS chief William "Wild Bill" Donovan tapped Stanley Lovell, a renowned industrial chemist, to be his "Professor Moriarty" and direct the department's efforts to "develop and deploy all of the dirty tricks that were needed to win the greatest war in history." Lisle catalogs dozens of projects undertaken by department researchers, including truth drug experiments, matchbox cameras, and a study of whether bats could be captured, strapped with incendiary devices, and unleashed on Japan. Lovell increased the scope of R&D's portfolio by creating subunits like the Camouflage Division, which could "transform any agent into a passable French miner, German soldier, Danish fisherman, or Dutch longshoreman at a moment's notice." Initially reluctant to create deadly weapons, Lovell "developed into a pragmatist... when faced with the devastating realities of war," according to Lisle, and "came to view biological warfare as the ethical alternative to conventional warfare." Though Lovell's character remains somewhat obscure, Lisle stuffs the account with bizarre inventions, humorous anecdotes, and vivid sketches of researchers and agents. Espionage buffs will be enthralled.
Customer Reviews
Good but slow to the point
I enjoyed the technical bits about spy craft.