Research Catalog

Title

The irregulars : Roald Dahl and the British spy ring in wartime Washington / Jennet Conant.

Author

Conant, Jennet.

Publication

New York : Simon & Schuster, 2008.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xx, 393 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations; 25 cm

Summary

"When Roald Dahl, a dashing young wounded RAF pilot, took up his post at the British Embassy in Washington in 1942, his assignment was to use his good looks, wit, and considerable charm to gain access to the most powerful figures in American political life." "Dahl would soon be caught up in a complex web of deception masterminded by William Stephenson, aka Intrepid, Churchill's legendary spy chief, who, with President Roosevelt's tacit permission, mounted a secret campaign of propaganda and political subversion to weaken American isolationist forces, bring the country into the war against Germany, and influence U.S. policy in favor of England." "In an account better than spy fiction, Jennet Conant shows Dahl progressing from reluctant diplomat to sly man-about-town, parlaying his morale-boosting wartime propaganda work into a successful career as an author, which leads to his entree into the Roosevelt White House and Hyde Park and initiation into British intelligence's elite dirty tricks squad, all in less than three years. He and his colorful coconspirators - David Ogilvy, Ian Fleming, and Ivar Bryce, recruited more for their imagination and dramatic flair than any experience in the spy business - gossiped, bugged, and often hilariously bungled their way across Washington, doing their best to carry out their cloak-and-dagger assignments, support the fledgling American intelligence agency (the OSS), and see that Roosevelt was elected to an unprecedented fourth term."--BOOK JACKET.

Subjects

• World War, 1939-1945 > Propaganda
• World War, 1939-1945 > Secret service > United States
• World War, 1939-1945 > Secret service > Great Britain
• Great Britain > British Security Coordination
• Espionage
• Dahl, Roald
• Propaganda, British > United States

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 370-376) and index.

Contents

1. The Usual Drill -- 2. Piece of Cake -- 3. Enthusiastic Amateurs -- 4. Special Relationships -- 5. Buffers -- 6. One Long Loaf -- 7. The War in Washington -- 8. Dirty Work -- 9. Good Value -- 10. Enemy Maneuvers -- 11. The Glamour Set -- 12. Full Lives.

ISBN

• 9780743294584 (hbk.)
• 0743294580 (hbk.)

LCCN

• 2008012483
• 40015873487

OCLC

• ocn213495389
• 213495389
• SCSB-5432168

Owning Institutions

Columbia University Libraries