"This enjoyable, picaresque and sometimes alarming book offers another good reason for maintaining careful oversight over the intelligence services: Spy-scientists tend to go rogue when left to invent their own devices." --Ben Macintyre, New York Times "In John Lisle's The Dirty Tricks Department , a darkly entertaining trawl through the outlandish exploits and misadventures of Lovell's "Department of Dirty Tricks," the spymasters of the O.S.S. treat the rules of war as minor annoyances." -- Air Mail " The Dirty Tricks Department is a fascinating tale vividly told, full of sabotage and skullduggery, deviousness and invention, and populated by a cast of remarkable characters. James Bond meets Sherlock Holmes--but in deadly serious real life." --H.

W. Brands, New York Times bestselling author of the Pulitzer Prize finalists Traitor to His Class and The First American " The Dirty Tricks Department is the best book about the OSS I've ever read. It's also one of the finest intelligence histories in recent years. Terrific research, razor-sharp writing, and a scintillating cast of characters--heroes, weirdos, con men, mad scientists--make this a must-read for anyone interested in the dark arts of espionage and secret warfare." --Tim Weiner, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, and author of the bestselling history of the CIA Legacy of Ashes "[A] knowledgeable and entertaining study . Lisle stuffs the account with bizarre inventions, humorous anecdotes, and vivid sketches of researchers and agents. Espionage buffs will be enthralled." -- Publishers Weekly "[A] fascinating story .

With careful research and a dry wit, Lisle finds much to say about the backroom war. A page-turning account of the scientists, inventors, and eccentrics of the OSS in a critical period of conflict." -- Kirkus Reviews "Lisle has composed an absolutely engaging chronicle of the founding and WWII heyday of the OSS, the precursor of today's CIA . How it all got started . is endlessly fascinating." -- Booklist.