World War 2 (WW2) can be thought of as an industrial war. The power of the combatants economy and industry contributed as much to the war effort as the soldiers on the field, if not to the same fatal degree. Looking back the public sees the industrial efforts in Rosie the Riveter, the liberty ships, and of course, production lines. World War 2 also featured a famous, focused research project on developing the weapon to end all weapons. Of course, this is the Manhattan Project. But little is known about the research, development, and production of spy equipment and practices as part of the larger industrial effort in WW2. Until now, that is. The Dirty Tricks Department by John Lisle is the real life history of how the tools and techniques of American spycraft were developed in World War 2. (Yes, the U.S. had spies before then; however, this was an industrial effort to produce tools and practices for spies.) The Dirty Tricks Department tells the origin of the OSS’s Research and Development Branch. From there, the gadgets of American spycraft flourish, but it’s also the origin of state sanctioned illegalities, such as forgery. This fascinating history tells how the U.S.’s spies were supported and supplied during WW2, paving the way for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to follow.
Disclaimer: The publisher provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Any and all opinions that follow are mine alone.
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TL;DR
The Dirty Tricks Department by John Lisle is an excellent new additional to historical nonfiction. This untold story of the Research and Development Branch of the Office of Strategic Services documents the sad, horrifying, and funny efforts to improve the craft of spying. Highly recommended.
From the Publisher
John Lisle reveals the untold story of the OSS Research and Development Branch—The Dirty Tricks Department—and its role in World War II.
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 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.
Review: The Dirty Tricks Department by John Lisle
The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the United States intelligence department during World War 2. It was established and run by William Joseph “Wild Bill” Donovan, a World War 1 veteran. Donovan approached Stanley Lovell, a chemist in Boston, for help. He needed someone to figure out how to play dirty. Lovell agreed, and so began the history of the OSS Research and Development Branch. This group of scientists, criminals, soldiers, and others advanced the field of spycraft through creativity, deviousness, and, at times, insanity. Their job was to aid U.S. spies in any way possible and help bring about the end of the war. The Dirty Tricks Department documents their efforts. It also documents Lovell’s descent from being an everyday chemist to becoming Donovan’s Professor Moriarty.
Lisle establishes the early days of the OSS well. He begins, naturally, with Donovan, then proceeds to Lovell, and from there explores the OSS at large. The OSS was seen as a more of a social club than a contributor to the war effort, and ironically Lovell reinforced this idea by setting up shop in the Congressional Country Club in Maryland. However it was anything but social. The scientists installed all kinds of research equipment, like vibration tables, humidity cabinets, and more. The OSS had a laboratory where saboteurs gained new equipment, pyromaniacs developed new tools, and limpet mines were produced.
Not all of the OSS’s ideas were a hit, though. At one point, they tested out bat bombs. Yes, you read that correctly. They had a plan to turn bats into bombs. The idea was that the bats would roost (nest?) in the eaves of Japanese buildings, and then, at a predetermined time, the devices attached to the bats would set fire to the buildings. A lot of work went into researching the bat bomb, and Lisle’s telling of it is excellent. It’s intriguing, funny (in a horrible/morbid sort of way), and yet still plausible. Despite the outlandish nature of the idea, they truly believed it would work, and Lisle makes you believe that it just might.
The Dirty Tricks Department by John Lisle is a historical retelling of the OSS’s research and development division. Lisle extensively researched this book and provides excellent sources and notes. Each chapter is well organized into stories that recount that history. Lisle’s writing is excellent and makes for a fast read. The material is at times funny, sad, horrifying, and always compelling.
The Ending
Lisle spends 17 out of 18 chapters on the OSS research division, their mission, and their achievements. As the book nears the end, Lisle discusses the less savory topics of war, such as biological and chemical weapons and drugs. He also devotes a chapter to Lovell’s post-war life and how he adjusts. These are all excellent chapters, and I think the book would have had a stronger ending if it left off with the retired Lovell. Yet, Lisle looks at one of the more controversial legacies of the OSS Research and Development Division, MKUltra.
The last chapter didn’t fit well with the rest of the book because MKUltra wasn’t an OSS operation; no, it was strictly the work of the CIA. While Lisle draws a line from the OSS to MKUltra, it feels out of place in a book dedicated to the OSS. The argument for MKUltra being strongly tied to the OSS’s legacy are a bit weak. Surely there are many other legacies of the research division that could be tied back to the inventions in the book with the same strength. Why not Agent Orange or the napalm used in Vietnam? Why single out MKUltra? It feels like a setup for Lisle’s next book more than an appropriate stopping point.
Obviously Lisle and his publishers disagree with me. If you’ve read this book, what do you think? Did the final chapter fit the book for you? Let me know in the comments.
Fantastic Writing
As someone who enjoys history books, I find that often they’re dry reads. There’s a distance put between the author and the subject, which in turn puts a distance between the reader and the subject. History is about dates, times, places, ideas, movements, and, of course, wars. But boil all of those things down to their common denominator, and you’ll find humans. History is ultimately about people and the things we do. Historians that focus on the people tend to be the writers that I like the most. Lisle is that type of writer. Even when talking about a gadget, he never loses sight of the person testing, devising, proposing, or using the gadget. He’s got the craft of a fiction writer and the research skills of an academic. Reading this book was less like a lecture at a university than a chat between friends, or maybe a really cool podcast.
Actually, the podcast idea has grown on me as I write this because each chapter does feel like an episode with a beginning, middle, and end that advances the overall story of the OSS Research and Development Division. This is a book that’s easy to read, and it’s filled with fantastic information about my country’s past. It’s a win-win for me. Lisle’s writing in this book puts him on my author watchlist. I’ll be following his authorial career with interest.
Conclusion
John Lisle’s The Dirty Tricks Department is an excellent history of the OSS Research and Development Branch. The books takes a sympathetic view of Stanley Lovell and his efforts to shorten the war effort, even if it meant crossing ethical boundaries. Lisle shows us the inventions and spycraft developed during war time that paved the way for the CIA and espionage American-style. The Dirty Tricks Department is an excellent read and introduces us to a new voice in historical nonfiction. I can’t wait to read what Lisle does next. Highly recommended.
The Dirty Tricks Department by John Lisle is available from St. Martin’s Press now.
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