The Encyclopedia of World War II Spies - Hardcover

Kross, Peter

9781569801710: The Encyclopedia of World War II Spies

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1569801711 ISBN 13: 9781569801710

Publisher: UNKNO, 2001

This is a volume solely dedicated to the spying and espionage intrigues that occurred behind the public's back during the second World War. A half century after VJ-Day, this volume offers material never before shown to the public.

Here is an encyclopedia with an A-to-Z listing of the secrets of World War II. It contains people, missions and events all related to intelligence operations during the war. Each section contains both historical information for that particular event, as well as how it affected the outcome of the war. Included are references to Allen Dulles, the Pearl Harbor attack, Richard Sorge, The Double Cross System, the OSS, the Cambridge Spies, Edward Layton, the Venona materials, the ULTRA Secret, William Donovan, and many more.

Much of the information in this book was obtained by the author from recently declassified documents which he obtained from the National Archives, making this book full of secrets that are just now beginning to see the light of day.

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From Booklist:

Much of the information provided in The Encyclopedia of World War II Spies was researched from recently declassified OSS (Office of Strategic Studies) documents obtained from the National Archives, known as "Record Group 226." According to the author, it would take several lifetimes to review all of the material. What Kross has done in this work is put in an A-Z alphabet a selection of the unsung heroes, villains, organizations, terms, and spy rings of the U.S., German, Italian, and Japanese espionage industry of the war years.

Entries include well-known spies, such as professional baseball player and scholar Morris "Moe" Berg, who worked for the OSS in the 1940s and in his most important assignment almost killed Werner Heisenberg, one of the lead German scientists working on the atomic bomb in Germany. There is also an entry on James Bond's creator, Ian Fleming, a commander in the British navy who, with his own band of raiders, carried out espionage missions behind the lines.

Other entries include Venona, a project begun during the war to break the code of all of the Soviet diplomatic messages being sent from the U.S. to Moscow. A major achievement of this project was the discovery that the Soviets had penetrated the Manhattan Project. More examples of entries are: Enigma machine, Navajo code talkers, and OSS truth drug project.

Although other titles, such as Spy Book: The Encyclopedia of Espionage (1997), cover all aspects of espionage, this is the only one that focuses on World War II. Although its value as a reference tool is somewhat hampered by the lack of cross-references, it is a recommended purchase for public libraries where an interest in World War II and spies is evident. RBB
Copyright � American Library Association. All rights reserved

From Library Journal:

World War II saw the advancement of espionage to higher levels than ever before. In his new book, Kross (Spies, Traitors, and Moles: An Espionage and Intelligence Quiz Book), chronicles the spies, their tools, and their operations during the war and into the beginning of the Cold War. From "Abwehr" (the German spy organization) to "Zacharias, Ellis" (of the Office of Naval Intelligence in the Pacific theater), the entries represent an overview of espionage activities. Notable spy cases, such as those of Alger Hiss and Kim Philby, are covered in detail. Other subjects are cryptography, the Navajo Code Talkers, and the question of just how much warning the United States had prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor. The alphabetically arranged articles are generally short but can run as long as ten pages; cross references to related articles are included at the end of each. Written in a style that lends itself to casual reading as well as research, this book is a good place to begin a serious study of this subject. Essential for libraries with World War II collections and worth considering by other libraries, especially with the recent renewed interest in Pearl Harbor. Grant A. Fredericksen, Illinois Prairie Dist. P.L., Metamora
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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