Swiss American Historical Society Review
Book Review: Schattenkrieg gegen Hitler: Das Dritte Reich im Visier der amerikanischen Geheimdienste
Keywords
Office of Strategic Services, German Historical Institute, World War II, Nazi Germany, United States
Abstract
In the 1980' s the United States government decided to declassify the files of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) which was the organization preceding the CIA. Christoph Mauch, a German historian and Deputy Director of the German Historical Institute in Washington, DC, thoroughly studied the numerous now available documents. His research in the National Archives as well as in various other archives in the United States and Europe resulted in his Habilitationsschrift [a scholar's second study after the doctoral dissertation to make one eligible for a university position in Germany]. A shortened and revised version of the study has now been published as a smoothly written book that offers deep insight into America's secret war against Nazi Germany. Due to the wide-spread popularity of spy novels and glorifying memoirs of participants, the view of the intelligence services during World War II has been highly mythical for decades. Schattenkrieg gegen Hitler, in contrast, demystifies the glamorous stereotypes by focusing on the real projects of the OSS and the question how successful they were.
Recommended Citation
Muenger, Christof
(2000)
"Book Review: Schattenkrieg gegen Hitler: Das Dritte Reich im Visier der amerikanischen Geheimdienste,"
Swiss American Historical Society Review: Vol. 36:
No.
2, Article 6.
Available at:
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/sahs_review/vol36/iss2/6