The Dirty Tricks Department
The Untold Story of the Real-life Q Branch, the Masterminds of Second World War Secret Warfare
Seiten
2023
The History Press Ltd (Verlag)
978-1-80399-264-8 (ISBN)
The History Press Ltd (Verlag)
978-1-80399-264-8 (ISBN)
The first book to explore the extraordinary true story of the 'Dirty Tricks Department' and its dark legacy
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.
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.
John Lisle is a history professor at Louisiana Tech University where he teaches courses on secret warfare. His writing on the D Branch, the intelligence community, and the history of science has appeared in Smithsonian Magazine, Scientific American, Military History (forthcoming), Skeptic, The Journal of Intelligence History, and Physics in Perspective.
| Erscheinungsdatum | 02.03.2023 |
|---|---|
| Zusatzinfo | 20 Illustrations |
| Verlagsort | Stroud |
| Sprache | englisch |
| Maße | 156 x 234 mm |
| Themenwelt | Natur / Technik ► Fahrzeuge / Flugzeuge / Schiffe ► Militärfahrzeuge / -flugzeuge / -schiffe |
| Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte ► 1918 bis 1945 | |
| Geschichte ► Teilgebiete der Geschichte ► Militärgeschichte | |
| Sozialwissenschaften ► Politik / Verwaltung ► Staat / Verwaltung | |
| ISBN-10 | 1-80399-264-6 / 1803992646 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1-80399-264-8 / 9781803992648 |
| Zustand | Neuware |
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Buch | Softcover (2023)
Motorbuch Verlag
CHF 38,90
