The Secret War Against Hitler (First Edition)

In his final written testament, the late CIA director chronicles the role played by U.S. intelligence services in World War II and shows how intelligence is used and misused by our government today

During World War II, Casey, the late CIA director, was a staff officer in the Office of Strategic Services' London branch, in charge of sending agents behind enemy lines. The most interesting passages in this bland account describe the difficulty of getting the high command to pay attention to information gathered by those agents. Casey regrets that the OSS, forerunner of the CIA, was unable to exploit the political advantages of the failed putsch against Hitler on July 20, 1944; he also bemoans the tardy penetration of Germany by OSS agents. In his opinion, the OSS "should have and could have" exploded the myth of the Bavarian redoubt, the Alpine retreat from which Hitler supposedly expected to fight on indefinitely. Casey's summary of OSS activities from 1943 to the end of the war in Europe is disappointingly reticent.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The late Director of the Central Intelligence Agency here gives an overview of OSS operations against World War II Germany that he managed. He allows himself only a casual presence in much of the book, adding perceptions to other, more detailed works, e.g., Allen Dulles's Secret Surrender (1966) and Joseph Persico's Piercing the Reich ( LJ 12/15/78), an operation headed by Casey. His book is not so much one of revelations as it is one of conviction that covert operations greatly aided our war effort, saving lives and ensuring victory, and that such operations are equally important today. Interesting observations for military history buffs and those concerned with intelligence and public policy. George H. Siehl, Library of Congress
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.