Mahl Thomas E. Desperate Deception: British Covert Operations in the United States, 1939-1944

University of North Carolina Press, 2000. — 258 p.Desperate Deception helps fill the gap. It is a very readable account of British covert action in the United States in the years just before and during World War II. Faced with the growing prospect of war with Germany, the British government mounted in 1939 a massive secret political campaign in the United States (including the use of front groups, agents, collaborators, manipulation of polling data, involvement in election campaigns, etc.) to weaken the isolationists, bring the United States into the war, and influence U.S. war policy in England’s favor. This campaign helped change not only the course of World War II but also the face of American politics in succeeding decades. While bits and pieces of the story have been told before and some of the details of the British campaign are lost to history, this is probably the best-researched and best-documented account we are likely to see on this crucial period of Western history. It is also a well-written story that combines both journalistic and academic skills. Desperate Deception is a milestone book on covert action and intelligence.