THE DANGEROUS SHORE

How the U.S. readied for attacks (in secret).

Vladic, a documentary filmmaker and co-author of Indianapolis (2018), tells a story of “the unsung heroes” who defended America’s Eastern Seaboard—well before the attack on Pearl Harbor. Vladic opens with Gill Robb Wilson, a World War I veteran flyer alarmed by German rearmament who began advocating a civilian air force. Relentless efforts led to the Civil Air Patrol (CAP), which proved a life-saver. In the catastrophic six months after Pearl Harbor, when U-boats destroyed hundreds of ships off America’s East Coast, hundreds of CAP civilians, women included, flew personal planes to detect U-boats, guide rescue ships, and drop the occasional depth charge. Despite Hollywood portrayals, Nazi spies were incompetent; Vladic writes of nervous Germans, left on our shores by submarines, who mostly dithered or tried to surrender but who were ultimately caught. Six would-be saboteurs were executed. In the covert Operation Underworld, Navy officials appealed to Mafia bosses who controlled New York’s docks to order dockworkers to watch for spies and saboteurs. Patriots all, they agreed, but nothing turned up. The author delivers vivid accounts, often related by little-known individuals; the imagined dialogue and insight into her characters’ thoughts may irritate history buffs but will entertain less-demanding readers. For example, one cinematic line reads, “‘Come now,’ she said, flicking ash from the tip of her cigarette, ‘there are friends I’d like you to meet.’” Readers who want more depth should seek out these historians’ page-turners: Stephen Budiansky’s Code Warriors (2016), Clay Blair’s Hitler’s U-Boat War (1996), and Max Hastings’ The Secret War (2016).

An entertaining read about a little-known chapter of World War II.