Die US-Geheimdienste im Zeitalter der Weltkriege

With the US’ rise to world power, Americans started to discuss their national intelligence services on a broad scale. This book analyses how the US got from A (‘spying is un-American’) to B (‘spying is essential for survival’). Focusing on the era of the World Wars and the immediate aftermath of World War II, it also reveals the strategies with which intelligence veterans sought to persuade their fellow Americans of the necessity of peacetime intelligence. With respect to American public debate, the first half of the 20th century thus marks the beginning of a paradox that is emblematic of American intelligence culture until this day: America’s most secret organisations are, at the same time, among its most publicised.