Book and Dagger

Book and Dagger: How Scholars and Librarians Became the Unlikely Spies of World War II by Elyse Graham, 400 pgs. 

       For being dense subject matter, this was a really fun read that basically covers the beginnings of the CIA. At the beginning of World War II, America wanted to get into the spy game but had no history prior to draw from. As a result, the government leaned heavily on academic institutions--professors, archivists, and experts--to help them develop a knowledge-base about the world and its potential enemies. Some became spies, some set-up clandestine divisions overseas, some joined the newly developed Research and Analysis division (at a certain point, they were known as the 'Chairborne Division'). R&A laid the groundwork for the techniques and protocols that America would gather intelligence in the decades to come. The way the book starts is similar to the way a traditional spy novel begins--with a mild-mannered hero, being approached by a government spook and being asked to meet in a secret, shadowy place. The author does great research highlighting some of the most important names to have a hand in major operations against the Nazis. Adele Kibre is one of the only female heroes that stands out. She was a PHD archivist with a talent for finding rare books and was sent over to Europe to hunt down useful texts that would help the Allies fight the Germans. I was additionally surprised to learn the amount of planning that happened prior to the Normandy invasion, all conducted by the R&A team and followed by a "ghost war ," which was the Allies' attempt to make Hitler think that the invasion was going to happen elsewhere in Europe. It's a great book that reminds you why we, as a society, rely on experts and scholars (and librarians!) to make the world a better place.