First published 2011
Douglas Waller presents the complete story of William Joseph Donovan, the man who built America's first intelligence empire. Drawing from thousands of declassified documents and interviews with Donovan's family and associates, Waller traces how this son of poor Irish immigrants became Franklin Roosevelt's top spy during World War II. The biography reveals Donovan's transformation from a Medal of Honor winner in World War I to the director of the Office of Strategic Services, the precursor to the CIA. Waller documents Donovan's battles on multiple fronts: fighting the Pentagon generals who plotted against him, outmaneuvering J. Edgar Hoover's FBI surveillance, and clashing with Winston Churchill over intelligence territory. The book exposes the personal costs of Donovan's dangerous career, including his reckless behavior in war zones, extramarital affairs that gave ammunition to political enemies, and family tragedies. Waller separates the myths from reality in Donovan's legacy, examining both his intelligence successes and spectacular failures to create a complete portrait of the man who introduced America to modern espionage.
Genres: biography, history, 20th-century, military-history, espionage, american-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: rise-to-power, true-story
Setting: America, United States
Period: World War II
480 pages · Hardcover · Simon & Schuster