OSS by Richard Harris Smith - 9781493042173

OSSThe Secret History Of America's First Central Intelligence Agency\nAuthor(s): Richard Harris Smith\nFormat: Paperback\nPublisher: Rowman & Littlefield, United States\nImprint: The Lyons Press\nISBN-13: 9781493042173, 978-1493042173\nSynopsis\nThe best book about Americas first modern secret service.\n--Washington Post Book World\n\nIn the months before World War II, FDR prepared the country for conflict with Germany and Japan by reshuffling various government agencies to create the Office of Strategic Services--Americas first intelligence agency and the direct precursor to the CIA. When he charged William (Wild Bill) Donovan, a successful Wall Street lawyer and Wilkie Republican, to head up the office, the stage was set for some of the most fantastic and fascinating operations the [url] government has ever conducted. Author Richard Harris Smith, himself an ex-CIA hand, documents the controversial agency from its conception as a spin-off of the Office of the Coordinator for Inf.