You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
troutgirl 's review for:
You have to love a book in which the dashing young RAF lieutenant complains in writing that he is "all fucked out" from cozying up to beautiful heiresses and the discreetly errant wives of powerful men. That the officer in question is also the author of _James and the Giant Peach_ and _Charlie and the Chocolate Factory_ adds an extra layer of frisson.
For those who have already read up on Intrepid, Donovan, the BSC, the OSS, and the complex relationship between Churchill and FDR, there will be little really new information here. But the younger generation will find a charmingly written introduction to wartime Washington DC, through the lens of amateur spies like Roald Dahl and Ian Fleming.
The most historically intriguing bits of this volume concern the intense maneuvering on the part of both British and Americans over the subject of post-war civil aviation. Today no one questions that foreign airlines can land in every airport freely... but in 1945 this was a fiercely debated point. I had little idea how much Dahl was involved in the jockeying for post-war pole position in the air.
For those who have already read up on Intrepid, Donovan, the BSC, the OSS, and the complex relationship between Churchill and FDR, there will be little really new information here. But the younger generation will find a charmingly written introduction to wartime Washington DC, through the lens of amateur spies like Roald Dahl and Ian Fleming.
The most historically intriguing bits of this volume concern the intense maneuvering on the part of both British and Americans over the subject of post-war civil aviation. Today no one questions that foreign airlines can land in every airport freely... but in 1945 this was a fiercely debated point. I had little idea how much Dahl was involved in the jockeying for post-war pole position in the air.