The Irregulars: Roald Dahl and the British Spy Ring in Wartime Washington | 
 enlarge | Author: Jennet Conant
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Category: Book
List Price: $27.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  36 reviews
Sales Rank: 1292
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1st Simon & Schuster Hardcover Ed
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 416
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.6
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 6 x 1.4
ISBN: 0743294580
Dewey Decimal Number: 940.5486410973
EAN: 9780743294584
ASIN: 0743294580
Publication Date: September 9, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com Review
Amazon Best of the Month, September 2008: Long before Willy Wonka sent out those five Golden Tickets, Roald Dahl lived a life that was more James Bond than James and the Giant Peach. After blinding headaches cut short his distinguished career as a Royal Air Force fighter pilot, Dahl became part of an elite group of British spies working against the United States' neutrality at the onset of World War II. The Irregulars is a brilliant profile of Dahl's lesser-known profession, embracing a real-life storyline of suave debauchery, clandestine motives, and afternoon cocktails. If this sounds oddly familiar, it's no coincidence: both Ian Fleming (the creator of 007) and Bill Stephenson (the legendary spymaster rumored to be the inspiration for Bond) were members of the same outfit. Although "Dahl...Roald Dahl" doesn't quite carry the same debonair ring, there is no discrediting this fascinating look at the British author's covert service to the Allied cause during WWII. --Dave Callanan
Product Description
When Roald Dahl, a dashing young wounded RAF pilot, took up his post at the British Embassy in Washington in 1942, his assignment was to use his good looks, wit, and considerable charm to gain access to the most powerful figures in American political life. A patriot eager to do his part to save his country from a Nazi invasion, he invaded the upper reaches of the U.S. government and Georgetown society, winning over First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and her husband, Franklin; befriending wartime leaders from Henry Wallace to Henry Morgenthau; and seducing the glamorous freshman congresswoman Clare Boothe Luce. Dahl would soon be caught up in a complex web of deception masterminded by William Stephenson, aka Intrepid, Churchill's legendary spy chief, who, with President Roosevelt's tacit permission, mounted a secret campaign of propaganda and political subversion to weaken American isolationist forces, bring the country into the war against Germany, and influence U.S. policy in favor of England. Known as the British Security Coordination (BSC) -- though the initiated preferred to think of themselves as the Baker Street Irregulars in honor of the amateurs who aided Sherlock Holmes -- these audacious agents planted British propaganda in American newspapers and radio programs, covertly influenced leading journalists -- including Drew Pearson, Walter Winchell, and Walter Lippmann -- harassed prominent isolationists and anti-New Dealers, and plotted against American corporations that did business with the Third Reich. In an account better than spy fiction, Jennet Conant shows Dahl progressing from reluctant diplomat to sly man-about-town, parlaying his morale-boosting wartime propaganda work into a successful career as an author, which leads to his entree into the Roosevelt White House and Hyde Park and initiation into British intelligence's elite dirty tricks squad, all in less than three years. He and his colorful coconspirators -- David Ogilvy, Ian Fleming, and Ivar Bryce, recruited more for their imagination and dramatic flair than any experience in the spy business -- gossiped, bugged, and often hilariously bungled their way across Washington, doing their best to carry out their cloak-and-dagger assignments, support the fledgling American intelligence agency (the OSS), and see that Roosevelt was elected to an unprecedented fourth term. It is an extraordinary tale of deceit, double-dealing, and moral ambiguity -- all in the name of victory. Richly detailed and meticulously researched, Conant's compelling narrative draws on never-before-seen wartime letters, diaries, and interviews and provides a rare, and remarkably candid, insider's view of the counterintelligence game during the tumultuous days of World War II.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 31 more reviews...
 Less than interesting December 3, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
A turgid account of an amazingly interesting time in our history, "The Irregulars" makes me want to seek out other books about Roald Dahl's life and adventures, better written and researched books that is.
Roald Dahl's involvement with William Stephenson, the so called "Man Named Intrepid", might have been exciting except that many now believe that Intrepid was only a daring spymaster in his own eyes. To many, he was a masterful bureaucrat, who used the post war years to pump up his derring-do reputation. And if we believe that Stephenson was not really a spymaster, then what do we make of Dahl's activities?
 Likely an Unknown Item of History December 3, 2008
Roald Dahl is well known as a children's book writer. Little known is the fact that he served in the British military during World War II. Likely unknown completely is the fact that Dahl served British intelligence during the war, against the Americans, in Washington, DC. Dahl integrated into DC high society to gain access to American diplomatic and military machinations.
Simply for its originality this book is worth the read. I highly recommend this book.
British Spying on the USA and Society Gossip November 30, 2008
"The Irregulars" revolves around Roald Dahl and his activities during World War II, but at times it's almost easy to forget the main character as details of other interesting people are described. A huge portion of this book is about Charles Marsh and Washington D.C. social and political life.
The discussion of what role the United States should play in world politics is very interesting background to the political concerns of today.
Some of my favorite tidbits from this book are right at the end. For example, on page 333, a number of tidbits about Ian Fleming's inspiration for James Bond are mentioned. Interesting tidbits like "[Alex] Hohenlohe and Schloss Mittersill (which was used by the Nazis for scientific research during the war) were models for Ernst Blofeld and his hideout in the Alps."
As with many biographies, to make them interesting reading, there is plenty of mention of affairs and whom was sleeping with whom. But the real value of this book is in a very readable and interesting look into American and British political figures during the war. Tidbits, about Vice President Wallace, Lyndon Johnson, (Congresswoman) Clare Luce, FDR and his wife Eleanor, provide depth into the political motivations of these individuals and the political power struggles during the war.
Certainly the insights on spymaster William Stephenson and various other operatives (such as Ivar Bryce, Ian Fleming and David Ogilvy) give a glimpse into the British attempts to manipulate American politics and opinion to push America into the war.
Dahl's tales of "gremlins" and the pitching of this story idea to Walt Disney adds more fascinating history to read.
The final chapter gives an entirely different view of Dahl, no longer the playboy, during his two marriages and as he grew old his career as an author bloomed with children's books. His charitable endeavors, in neurology and hematology, certainly were a beneficial contribution to the world.
If you are interested in taking a ride through the social and political intrigues of the rich and famous, particularly in Washington D.C. during World War II, largely from the playboy lifestyle and point of view of a young injured British pilot assigned to spy on America, give this book a read.
The Willy Wonka You Never Knew November 26, 2008
Roald Dahl is a fascinating man. This is about the life that most people don't know he lived - that of a British officer and spy of sorts, sent to mingle with important americans and charged to influence them with subtle propaganda into supporting WWII. England wasn't doing so great to say the least, and they needed all the help they could get: namely, from America.
The Irregulars evokes memories of those fictitious Baker Street Irregulars, who worked for Sherlock Holmes and acted as his eyes and ears, as he prepared to influence the outcomes of his cases. Roald Dahl also made the perfect sort of spy in that regard; you'd never expect him to be one.
This provides a fascinating insight into a seldom-taught aspect of WW2 history and influence. I had no idea that any of this had been going on at all. Roald Dahl being one of my most favorite authors, I jumped on the chance to read this, to perhaps understand precisely why his fiction was as good and rich as it is. This record of activity goes provides a unique window of observation on one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century. This is a must-read too for any Ian Flemming fans. The James Bond books have an entirely new perspective for me now, and I am going to re-read them all again, inspired to by this book.
 history revealed November 26, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Not knowing much about this aspect of history regarding WW11, I was indeed surprised to learn about Dahl and his exploits. I think largely because I am not so familiar with this era I found some chapters of this book, particularly in the beginning, to be difficult to follw with all of the name-dropping and people being introduced. I also felt that at times it reads a bit like a gossip column. That aside, it is an interesting look at an aspect of our history that I, for one, didn't know much about.
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