OCTOBER 2019 - AudioFile
Author and narrator Henry Hemming is thoroughly British, and this audiobook history of British efforts to win U.S. support in the months preceding Pearl Harbor never questions the justice—or legality—of what was a covert effort to influence American politics and public opinion. The chief agent of influence here is Canadian-born William Stevenson, familiar from earlier histories as “The Man Called Intrepid,” and his principal adversary is the isolationist spokesman and aviator Charles Lindbergh. Hemming performs well both as author and as narrator. His delivery is clear and unaffected, and his obvious sincerity and admiration for Stevenson provide a highly satisfactory listening experience. D.A.W. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
10/21/2019
Hemming (Agent M) delivers a lucid, fast-paced account of England’s secret scheme to draw America into WWII. Shortly after the June 1940 Dunkirk evacuation, Canadian-born MI6 agent Bill Stephenson launched the “largest state-sponsored influence campaign ever run on American soil.” Drawing on newly declassified British records, Hemming reveals how Stephenson’s staff infiltrated interventionist groups such as the Anti-Nazi League; spread “distorted” news stories; and manipulated public opinion polls. The MI6 agents were clandestinely helped by notable Americans, including Time magazine publisher Henry Luce and lawyer William “Wild Bill” Donovan, who, with Stephenson’s guidance, set up the Office of the Coordinator of Information, America’s “first centralized intelligence agency.” In addition to recounting Stephenson’s covert operations, Hemming documents the activities of prominent isolationists including Charles Lindbergh, and the efforts of senior German diplomat Hans Thomsen to keep America out of the war. The broad outlines of Hemming’s story are familiar, but his crisp narrative is enlivened by his family connection to the story: his grandparents were friends with, and may have worked for, Stephenson. This entertaining espionage history illuminates an important chapter in the history of foreign influence on American public opinion. (Oct.)
From the Publisher
"This is a fast-paced yarn... reads like the film script of a 1940s thriller."—The Times (UK)
"Hemming is very much in control of his material. Bite-size chapters paint fascinating miniatures, often with a cliff-hanger to keep the pages turning... What more fertile ground could there be for a book than such an important premise, with modern resonance, explored through a tale of difficult odds, brilliant ruses, espionage and good old-fashioned detective work. In Hemming's sure hands, America's uncertain progress towards direct engagement in the second world war becomes riveting history."—The Spectator (UK)
"[A] page-turning spy thriller...Fluid, sharp writing, deep research, and a spy network with unparalleled ingenuity provide a snappy read and lots of shockers."—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Agents of Influence is fun, delightful reading. Hemming provides a lucid narrative that draws on recently declassified documents and reads like an historical fiction. Hemming has a few books already under his belt, including Agent M: The Lives and Spies of MI5's Maxwell Knight, which documents his knack for bringing to life seemingly forgotten British spy history."—Cipher Brief
"A lucid, fast-paced account of England's secret scheme to draw America into WWII...This entertaining espionage history illuminates an important chapter in the history of foreign influence on American public opinion."—Publishers Weekly
"Gripping and intoxicating, it unfolds like the best screenplay."—Nicholas Shakespeare, author of The Dancer Upstairs
"A revelatory and wholly fascinating work of history. Superbly researched and written with gripping fluency, this lost secret of World War II espionage finally has its expert chronicler."—William Boyd
OCTOBER 2019 - AudioFile
Author and narrator Henry Hemming is thoroughly British, and this audiobook history of British efforts to win U.S. support in the months preceding Pearl Harbor never questions the justice—or legality—of what was a covert effort to influence American politics and public opinion. The chief agent of influence here is Canadian-born William Stevenson, familiar from earlier histories as “The Man Called Intrepid,” and his principal adversary is the isolationist spokesman and aviator Charles Lindbergh. Hemming performs well both as author and as narrator. His delivery is clear and unaffected, and his obvious sincerity and admiration for Stevenson provide a highly satisfactory listening experience. D.A.W. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2019-08-18
Hemming (Agent M: The Lives and Spies of MI5's Maxwell Knight, 2017, etc.) tells the story of MI6 operative Bill Stephenson (the model for 007) and how crucial he was to America's entry into World War II.
Stephenson was sent to New York in June 1940, to convince U.S. officials to support England in her desperate fight against the Germans. Later that summer, President Franklin Roosevelt sent Bill Donovan on an unofficial visit to London to discern if England could survive. Stephenson knew of the visit and had MI6 take charge, wooing Donovan with royal visits and access to high-security operations. When Donovan returned to America, Stephenson convinced him the U.S. needed a stronger spy service. Donovan's job was to get Roosevelt onboard. He was already leaning in that direction, ready to help in any way he could—everything that is, short of declaring war. Helping these interventionists was an East Coast group with strong influence called the Century Group. American isolationists, led by Charles Lindbergh, were their fiercest opponents. Lindbergh, who addressed huge crowds at anti-war rallies and justified Nazi aggression due to economic imbalance, received information from Hans Thomsen, the senior diplomat at the German Embassy in charge of keeping the U.S. out of the war. Thomsen developed the congressional "franking privilege" scheme whereby pro-German material could be mailed to sympathizers by sitting members of Congress for free. He also bribed newspapers to publish his false material. Stephenson and Donovan built the most diverse and extensive yet subtle propaganda drive ever directed by one sovereign state at another. In this page-turning spy thriller, Hemming shows how they mastered the art of starting rumors, infiltrating groups, and manipulating opinion polls. They also used forgeries, organized protests, and wiretaps and hacked into private communications. Their only rule: No rules.
Fluid, sharp writing, deep research, and a spy network with unparalleled ingenuity provide a snappy read and lots of shockers.
