G.I. G-MEN

World War II skullduggery.

Harding, author of The Last Battle (2013), reveals that J. Edgar Hoover, whose FBI fought espionage in North and South America, was certain that Allied armies reconquering Europe would reveal American traitors who had welcomed the Nazi conquest and stayed behind. He wanted to send agents across the sea, but no one liked the idea: Army and Navy intelligence services were already on the spot. Years earlier, President Franklin D. Roosevelt had listened to a friend, William J. Donovan, propose a centralized agency to direct overseas counterintelligence and covert operations. This led to what became the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the precursor of the CIA. Hoover tended to get what he wanted, so FBI agents began flying to Europe following the first Allied landings; they turned up genuine, if not key traitors. The sole familiar name was Ezra Pound (1885-1972) the renowned poet and critic who had moved to Italy in 1924, embraced fascism, and recorded hundreds of radio propaganda broadcasts. Unlike other collaborators, he never denied his actions or expressed regret but struck his captors as a crackpot. After spending 13 years in a mental hospital, Pound returned to Italy until his death. Genuine spies existed, but Nazi espionage was largely incompetent. Mostly, there were Americans who needed to explain themselves. Many wealthy expatriates had no objection to fascism and obtained exemption from regulations by entertaining the occupiers and doing favors. Others were American citizens drafted into the German armed forces, or working for them. All claimed to be victims, and some were telling the truth. Overall, Harding examines a lesser-known aspect of the war, and readers will enjoy detours into the lives of FBI agents and the endless turf quarrels between Army intelligence, Navy intelligence, the OSS, and FBI.

Good wartime niche history.