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Title: The Irregulars: Roald Dahl and the British Spy Ring in Wartime Washington
ISBN: 1598876937
Author:
Jennet Conant
Publicate Date: 2008-09-09
Publish: 2008-09-09
List Price: $34.95
Average Customer Rating: 4.0
Format: Audio CD
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $20.30
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $19.79
Amazon Merchant Price: $23.07
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1: Just like Dahl: a twist on what you thought you knew
Roald Dahl's own work is defined by twisting expectations and perceptions. So it is only fitting that Jennet Conant's look at his service as a British spy on the United States does just that to what most Americans think about World War II.
The very idea that the Allies would have spied on each other is something that most readers may never have considered. Conant consistently emphasizes the desperation with which Britain in general and Churchill in particular worried over American involvement in and perception of the war. In his own role, Roald Dahl was but a foot soldier, but as in all authentic tales those on the front lines have the best stories to tell.
The heroes here are people we know: Dahl, Ian Fleming, David Ogilvy, FDR and Churchill. But Conant digs beyond their exploits and shines light on the movers behind them, people like William Stephenson, who headed the British intelligence effort in the U.S., and Charles Marsh, an American newspaper tycoon and would-be Washington power player. It is these folks, with their myriad motivations, both high-minded and patriotic and vengeful, protective and territorial that informed the progress of the way. Conant presents it all down to the sordid details of Dahl's and Marsh's ribald correspondence, Dahl's affair with Tyrone Power's wife and another with Congresswoman Clare Boothe Luce. Dropping in from time to time are the heroes of later stories, Harry Truman (who played poker with Dahl) and Lyndon Johnson (who was a frequent guest at Marsh's Virginia retreat).
All of the major moves of the war, from Lend-Lease to D-Day, are given fresh impetus to American readers with the British perspective, which was downright combative at times for such a close ally. Dahl and Co. were not above stealing, lying or propagandizing to achieve their ends, and it is such impolite behavior that saw them largely ostracized from polite society following the war. The machinations are as compellingly rendered here as in any spy novel, and anyone with interest in the period (or in Dahl) should read the book.
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2: Wooed under false pretense....
I actually think this is a great book in many ways -- I admire how Jennet Conant presents such an incredible catalog of factoids in a readable format that does shed much needed light on the British efforts at espionage and counter-espionage against its own ally during wartime. What concerns me, though, is that the book presents itself as something it isn't -- an insight into Dahl's personality and activities as a "spy" in an MI6 subsidiary tasked with "black" ops and "dirty work."
While an amazing read, this book is REALLY a loosely-tied collection of mini-bios of those with whom Dahl associated himself, his socio-political "circle" in wartime D.C., or, in short, those he "reported" on -- essentially passing on tons of tidbits of gossip, insights on their personal dispositions on various matters, etc., all to be sifted through by his boss William Stephenson's BSC office in Manhattan.
The author probably had little input into the cover art for her book, but said cover serves as an apt metaphor of misdirection: under the buzz-word-filled title words "Dahl," "British Spy Ring," "Wartime Washington," the picture has the U.S. capitol as a backdrop, with an inset of a cropped photo of Dahl. Of course, the crop actually came from a photo of Dahl escorting Hemingway through wartime LONDON, but no matter, apparently, as misdirection is an aptly developed theme....
I don't mean to sound snide, for this truly is a book I'm glad to have read; I simply don't like to be misled into picking a book for the wrong reasons, no matter how good it turns out to be.
Part of the problem facing the author is a paucity of data -- there's not much source material for a story about the BSC (the British Security Coordination, the organization tasked with discrediting US isolationists, among others) with Dahl at the center. A much more resource-rich approach would have been to write a book about the BSC with Ogilvy, Ian Fleming, or Stephenson at the center of the tale, but that's been done before, and the vaunted Dahl-centrism seems to be mostly gimmick. Where she is not short with material is on Dahl's relationship with his "mentor" Charles Marsh, the Texas newspaper magnate, and the intercourse between the two constitutes the bulk of the book's text, largely to the point of ennui.
The reader learns very little about Dahl himself other than that he's an amoral, libidinous, boozing, dinner-partying, pleasure-seeking, opportunistic, though patriotic, TOOL, both of the BSC and of Roosevelt himself, who clearly uses him as one of his mainlines of back-channel communication to Churchill (i.e., for matters of a more frank nature that he wouldn't want to put into a formal diplomatic cable -- FDR actually works to water down legislation against shutting down British espionage/counter-espionage on US soil, and he opposes Hoover and the FBI's cracking down on them as well, for FDR has uses for them, and Dahl is one of those so used). I hesitate to even refer to Dahl's work as espionage/counter-espionage -- barring one incident concerning the surreptitious photocopying of a draft manuscript. It's more like simple gossip-peddling, though he does this effectively and with solid results.
The largest and most interesting issue that Dahl finds himself tasked with tracking is the planning and Anglo-American diplomacy concerning the post-war commercial air industry, and it's upon this issue that Conant's journalistic eye for detail and mind for organization produces the best narrative and investigation. For this issue alone, this book is worth reading, though it's not exactly something the jacket advertises as subject matter, for, on the surface, that subject doesn't sound that interesting, though it IS, and it is a subject of primary interest in understanding Anglo-American tensions during the war.
Probably the most engaging passages concern Claire Booth Luce -- not for their prurient content but because the author uses her to set up the American opportunistic commercial position on air-travel that most scares the Brits and thus sets the BSC's continuing mandate -- and David Ogilvy, simply because he's probably the most interesting individual in Dahl's circle.
I hate to bring up more criticism, but one issue that the author seems to deal with unfairly is the supposed change in policy under the new Truman administration in supposedly heartlessly cutting off aid to the U.S.'s wartime allies, specifically Britain, at the end of overt hostilities. While the author's treatment of all sorts of subjects well transcend the scope of the war, her "cutting off aid" section seems almost biased in its myopia, completely ignoring the Marshall Plan, which in 3-4 years after the war had dispensed almost $13 Billion (big money in those days!) in aid to our European allies, a disproportionate percentage (25% of the total given to 18 countries) going to the very Brits who were apparently totally cut off heartlessly in the author's version.
Nonetheless, I'd give this book 4 stars for the content and masterful presentation -- and I'm very pleased to have read it and learned much from it -- if it weren't for the somewhat sneaky way the text was advertised. It's largely a catalog of gossip and has very little to do with Roald Dahl-the-man: though he serves roughly as the focal point upon which all the mini-bios turn in the text, he, himself, is hardly the focus of the book. Nonetheless, the text is well thought-out and put together. Well worth a read despite the marketing misdirection....
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3: Children's stories and a spy ring?
Interesting anecdotal information about the spying and in particular about Roald Dahl. I gave this book only four stars because I didn't think the writing was as smooth as it could have, should have been, IMO. To me, the writing was too bland for a story about spies--in wartime Washington, or elsewhere. Where personalities were concerned, Mr. Dahl comes across as an intelligent and talented writer, of course, especially of children's stories--most of which I have always liked, but he also comes across as a self-absorbed individual.
The other British spies discussed in the story are names most of us have known and who turned out to be excellent writers themselves. Generally, though, I found the book disappointing. Perhaps if it had been written earlier in time, it might have interested me more--before I'd already heard about and read about this group of spies.
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4: Less than interesting
A turgid account of an amazingly interesting time in our history, "The Irregulars" makes me want to seek out other books about Roald Dahl's life and adventures, better written and researched books that is.
Roald Dahl's involvement with William Stephenson, the so called "Man Named Intrepid", might have been exciting except that many now believe that Intrepid was only a daring spymaster in his own eyes. To many, he was a masterful bureaucrat, who used the post war years to pump up his derring-do reputation. And if we believe that Stephenson was not really a spymaster, then what do we make of Dahl's activities?
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5: Likely an Unknown Item of History
Roald Dahl is well known as a children's book writer. Little known is the fact that he served in the British military during World War II. Likely unknown completely is the fact that Dahl served British intelligence during the war, against the Americans, in Washington, DC. Dahl integrated into DC high society to gain access to American diplomatic and military machinations.
Simply for its originality this book is worth the read. I highly recommend this book.
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